


We Own the Sky

by Somebodys_Nightmare



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: 80's Music, A lot of smut that's just unnecessary to the plot, Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Airplanes, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cloti - Freeform, Cloti Endless Summer 2020, Cloud Strife as Tom Cruise, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fighter Pilots, Gratuitous Smut, Military, Navy, Romance, Smut, Some Humor, Top Gun (1986) References, Zerith - Freeform, canon compliant character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 56,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somebodys_Nightmare/pseuds/Somebodys_Nightmare
Summary: AU. Cold, arrogant, and reckless, Lieutenant Cloud Strife, one of the most talented fighter pilots in Shinra’s elite AVIATOR division, lets his ego loose in the open air.  But deep inside, the little boy who still pines for the smart girl who shared his love for the sky lingers.   When he sees her on his naval base for the first time in 11 years, everything changes.  Loosely adapted from Top Gun (1986).  Uploaded for the Final Heaven Discord's #EndlessSummer Event, July 15-21, 2020. COMPLETE.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 140
Kudos: 185
Collections: Cloud and Tifa





	1. Highway to the Danger Zone

**Author's Note:**

> This story is loosely adapted from the 1986 film Top Gun. Story title comes from a lyric in the Gunship song, “Fly For Your Life”. The video is really cool and was my original inspiration for this story, so check it out on Youtube. Each chapter title comes from a song on the Top Gun soundtrack. 
> 
> Special shout out to my beta readers for this project, spaceOdementia, who is just my PERSON (you cannot have her hahaha), who was there for the writing of this fic every step of the way and without her, I probably would not have found the motivation to finish it! And to 04jetta who is as smart as a whip and really helped me, since I know nothing about jet fighters or aerial combat. They both helped me immensely, and I am in endless gratitude to them for helping me get through this project.
> 
> This story is an entry in the Final Heaven Discord’s #EndlessSummer 2020 event, responding to the prompt: “I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you,” from Dirty Dancing.
> 
> This chapter takes its title from the Kenny Loggins’ song, “Danger Zone”.

CHAPTER ONE

Highway to The Danger Zone

* * *

Blood thrummed inside of Lieutenant Cloud Strife’s ears as the twin engines of his Shinra-issued F-80 Corvette combat jet roared with a furious burst, his gloved hands tugging the throttle back determinedly. The blue sky over the northern province of Wutai was crisp and clear, and at his altitude, only wispy white clouds were his companions as he blazed a trail behind the line of the leading aircraft several thousand feet ahead of him.

“SPIKE, do you copy?I’ve got a KiS up ahead.Maintain at 900 knots.”Cloud winced at his call sign as he heard Lieutenant Zack Fair call out to him over the radio, and Cloud’s eyes whipped up to the contrails of exhaust from Zack’s fighter as it dredged into the sky ahead of him. 

“Copy RASCAL, I’ve got your back,”Cloud responded, lowering the throttle again, steering the aircraft in a curve behind Zack’s, lining the nose at a perfect angle so that he could leverage his line of sight with the dogfight that was going on below, and wing in for backup as needed. 

Cloud felt a familiar thrill pass through his bones as he gripped the center stick, his eyes hovering over the head-up display that pinged the locations of both his comrades and his enemies in the sky.The Wutain KI-21 Needlekisses -abbreviated KiS- the staple combat aircraft of Wutai’s _Ueno_ air forces, were lit up red on his display, three distinct dots that circled in a treacherous dance with his team’s jets over the expanse of open water between the Wutai and Rocket Town landmasses. His comrade’s planes were lit blue.

He heard Zack shout a few curses. “Bogey on my six.SPIKE, I’m veering hard right to lose him.”

“Roger,” Cloud affirmed, and raced behind Zack’s jet with a furious roar, boosting the engines, and punching high through a pocket of clouds as he raised altitude, blood pounding in his ears under his helmet. He synchronized with Zack’s movements perfectly; two eagles with wings spread wide curving in the thin summer winds. 

“This is RED, I’m coming in hot on a bogey at 12 o’clock,” Lieutenant Commander’s Reno’s voice was clipping into his headset. “HAMMER, I need immediate cover from the asshole on the left.I’m gonna clip him, yo.” 

“Affirmative, RED,” Lieutenant Commander Rude responded brusquely, and Cloud felt more vibrations rumble through the air.

“I’m locking on!”Zack was shouting.“One KiS of death coming right up.”

Cloud smirked, pressing the throttle forward, slashing through stratus.The phrase was a familiar way that they signaled an enemy aircraft was about to be shot down.

Cloud waited for the resounding blast from Zack’s materia hatch as he locked on the Needlekiss, and when it came, the explosion rocked through the skyline, jolting Cloud in the cockpit.Narrowing his blue eyes, focused in determination, he gripped the throttle and kept his course while he watched the Needlekiss go down in flames several thousand feet away, plunging towards the ocean.

Zack let out an exhilarated whoop into the radio.“Hell, yeah!That’s how _that’s_ done!”

“Two more to go,” Cloud responded, and when Zack took a dive to the west, Cloud pursued.

He was getting anxious.Cloud and Zack were frequently paired, but Cloud hated playing wingman.He lived for the thrill of careening through the sky without following or relying on the movements of another pilot. He was a skilled pilot, he knew - but he was reckless sometimes when he took the lead.Not quite so confident on the ground, Cloud soared when he was in ethers of the atmosphere.There was no one holding him back, and he was free to be alone in his own head, with the exception of the voices of his companions.And there were very few expectations placed on him when he was in the sky.

Except for the rules of engagement, maybe.

His superiors had consistently relegated Cloud to wingman after a series of stunts that earned him their disapproval above Wutai earlier that spring. These were mostly Cloud veering off course to execute an unauthorized maneuver or approach an enemy without approval, disregarding the commands from his superiors on the ground as they barked orders into his headset.There hadn’t been any serious repercussions - in fact, in one case, Cloud had managed to safely guide Rude back to the warship after he almost ran out of fuel over the open water - but the commanding officers, including Captain Highwind, had seen his behavior as characteristic of an arrogant child, a showboat who became too narcissistic when left to his own devices in the air.Too dangerous to be playing leading man amongst the heavens.

“You’re winging Fair until further notice,” Captain Cid Highwind had barked at him in his office on board Shinra’s mako-fueled warship, _The Proud Condor_ , blowing a puff of cigarette smoke into his face. Cloud had seethed, keeping his blue eyes on the dirty carpet in Cid’s office, not daring to speak a word.

Cloud had signed up for Shinra’s elite AVIATOR naval force right out of high school, leaving his small town of Nibelheim in pursuit of bigger, loftier dreams.The sky had always intrigued him, mostly because there was so much of it to see in Nibelheim.Unlike the bigger cities of Midgar, Junon, or even Rocket Town, Nibelheim’s sky was unobstructed by tall buildings and littered skylines.So close to Rocket Town, Cloud would watch the airships and helicopters and twin-engine planes fly overhead, wishing one day to sit in one of their cockpits, flying above everything else, leaving behind the boredom and isolation that his life in the small town mostly consisted of.

“Goddamnit,” Reno’s hiss broke through his helmet.“I've got a six strobe.I think he's locked on us.HAMMER, are you seeing this shit?”

“Affirmative, RED, I’m pulling up on your right,” was Rude’s reply, a crackle across the radio wave.

Up ahead, Cloud could see that Zack was smoothly dogfighting another Needlekiss, the jet’s movements seamless as Zack dipped its nose downward.

“I’m locking on another, SPIKE,” Zack was saying to him as if he were setting the table for Sunday brunch.

Cloud grunted an assent and glared at the HUD. The radar was running wild as a new red dot appeared on the screen, hovering near where Reno was dogfighting the first KI-21, Rude trying to distract and protect Reno’s flank.

“What the hell?” Rude’s voice was a grumble into the radio, and Cloud averted his eyes to the west, where he could spot the dark shapes of the jets in the distance, thousands of feet away.“What’s he doing?”

“Pissing me off!” Was Reno’s clipped shout, just as he turned his Corvette into another short dive.

Reno and Rude continued to trade curses and banter over their strategy to dispatch the now pair of Kisaragi Needlekisses they danced with in the sky, and Cloud weighed his options as he stared back at the blinking lights on the HUD.Zack was veering far off to the east, his jet executing a perfect roll and tumble as it pursued the third and final Needlekiss they were contending with above the ocean.

Making a hasty decision, Cloud braced himself and shifted the throttle to the left, veering his aircraft towards the west where Reno and Rude were engaged.

“RED and HAMMER, I’m coming in.I’m going head to head with the one at 2000 feet first.”

“Take it easy, SPIKE…” he heard Zack’s voice break across the radio.“The Captain isn’t going to like this.”

“Get this guy off my ass!” Reno was shouting.

“RED, break left and roll. HAMMER, try and deflect the KiS on its airfoil.” Cloud dictated calmly into the radio, feeling the adrenaline rise in his blood, awakening the thrill that he sought whenever he climbed to these altitudes.

“Goddamnit Strife!”Captain Highwind’s voice broke through in a rough growl over the radio from his position on the ground aboard _The Proud Condor_ just as Cloud tilted the delta wing of his Corvette in a downward pitch that steered it closer to the melee Reno and Rude were engaged in.Cloud grit his teeth as he bent against the wind, the downwash shuttering across the canopy of his cockpit.

“He’s still on you, RED,”Cloud said from his position high above Reno and Rude’s fighters.He pushed the throttle, lowering the jet’s nose, seeking the KiS that was harassing them, hidden in a patchwork of clouds.

“Can’t shake him - HAMMER, pull back.I’m gonna spin this bitch,” Reno barked.

Cloud watched as Rude’s jet jerked backward, killing its speed that was trying to match Reno’s while the red-headed pilot pulled a wild evasive maneuver that gave Cloud an opening to lock target on the KiS that was weaving through the tufts of stratus and cirrus in the sky. Cloud heard Highwind cursing as he dropped the Corvette into a cruising descent toward the KiS, leveling it canopy to canopy with the enemy aircraft until he could almost make out the shape of the Wutain _Ueno_ pilot inside the cockpit.Cloud’s gloved fingers dropped the materia switches on his side turrets, unleashing a fury of thundara spells that propelled the KiS into a roll, it’s engines blaring as it descended from the sky, riddled with holes and leaking jet fuel into the Western Sea.

Cloud sat back wholly satisfied in the cockpit as he checked the altimeter, then righted the angle of the Corvette, and doubled back. 

“Another long KiS goodnight, and one in retreat!”Reno cheered over the radio.To his right, Cloud could see Zack’s fighter sidling back up into view a few hundred feet away.

“Get your crazy asses out the sky and back to the ship,” Captain Cid instructed from the ground, and Cloud could hear the string of curses trail away before one of Cid’s deputy commanders came to the radio.

“You’ve got clearance,” he instructed peacefully.

* * *

The dogfight had been successful, but as soon as Cloud landed on the warship, ground control steering his fighter behind Zack’s to the opposite end of the flight deck, disembarking the aircraft to unload his equipment and pull open his bomber jacket, he had received a summons to the Captain’s office. 

Cloud sighed, the thrill of the air and the open sky and the speed of his warplane abandoning him as his boots trekked across the tarp surface of _The Proud Condor’_ s deck. He already knew what was coming.A successful mission - four, not three Wutain Needlekisses had been dispatched, pushing back Wutai’s defense enough to allow SOLDIER to make headway on the ground under the command of the great General Sephiroth until the next push was needed from the sky. It was Shinra’s current tactic in the war against the sequestered, antediluvian nation.AVIATOR would create air diversions or rip open defenses through sky combat, while SOLDIER would advance on the ground.Despite this, Cloud had broken protocol again and pissed off his superiors, so he did not anticipate much praise.

It would be, in fact, the opposite.

“Goddamnit, Strife!”Cid was pacing behind his wooden desk in his tiny office buried deep within the massive warship’s lower cabin, a cigarette between his teeth.Behind him, his dragoon lance was leaning dangerously against one corner of his empty bookshelf, and Cloud chanced a glance at its sharp tip while he waited for the Captain to berate him.

Cid stopped, dropping his hands to the top of his desk, shaking his head from side to side.He looked up at Cloud, his pale blue eyes connecting easily with Cloud’s deep cerulean blue ones, blazing fury at him.

Despite his brashness and tendency to be quick to anger, Cloud respected Cid Highwind greatly.The man was one of the greatest pilots in the history of probably the entire world, and was one of the first recruits at the inception of the AVIATOR program.At just over forty, Cid was one of the youngest high-ranking military officers in all of Shinra’s branches, with the exception of the wildly unequivocal example of General Sephiroth.The man was skilled with every manner of machinery that had ever kissed the sky - airships, dual-engine airplanes, helicopters, fighter jets - he had even commanded Shinra’s short-lived space program, before President Shinra defunded the enterprise in order to increase funding for the Wutai war effort.

Cloud had idolized the man’s talents for as long as he could remember.

“Listen to me, son,”Cid was saying then.The cigarette had been transferred out of his mouth and was now pinched between two fingers as he leaned back again, straightening his spine.Cloud, his mind turning over with thoughts of the scolding he was about to receive, let Cid’s eyes hold his own.

“That was some shit up there today,” Cid finally managed.“I mean, I ain’t never seen anybody maneuver one of these bad ladies like that before, ‘specially not at that altitude.”

Cloud’s eyebrow went up in surprise, and as Cid watched him expectantly, Cloud straightened a little, his eyes widening.

“Thank you, sir.”

Cid slammed his open palm on the table.“Goddamnit, Strife.It’s not just something to be proud of.You -“ His gaze was suddenly serious, his eyes darkening as they narrowed.“It’s not just about flaunting your prowess with the machine under the gales.It’s about your comrades.It’s about the team.It’s about the enemy.”

Cloud held his gaze, feeling a hot wash of shame, blended with annoyance, roll over him.He had maneuvered away from Zack, but Zack had been fine - and Reno had not. Why was it so hard for Cid to understand this?Why did he have to give him a hard time when all he was doing was making decisions in the air that would best benefit the team?His comrades?

Wasn’t that what Cid had always done when he was in the sky, before he took his current position, issuing orders from the ground?

Cloud had half a mind to ask, but he didn’t dare.It would probably just earn him an additional reprimand, although the explosive reaction from Cid would have been entertaining to witness.

Instead, Cloud bit the inside of his bottom lip and kept himself at attention, waiting for Cid to finish.

Ultimately, Cid deflated slightly, shaking his head a little.“I’m not gonna reprimand you any further, though I’m keeping you wing to Fair,” he added sternly.“The suits were impressed with your performance today.They don’t know how dangerous your little stunts can be, though.I’ve been up in the air for decades, SPIKE, and I know that you don’t break the rules of engagement.Not unless it’s absolutely down to life or death.I want you to keep that in mind.Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes, sir,”Cloud responded in a clipped tone, though he felt the corner of his lip tug slightly, a victorious smirk trying to spread its way across his face.

“Get out of my office,” The Captain huffed with a wave, “ We dock at base at 0300 hours.”

With that, Cloud turned on his feet with a salute, before making his way out.

* * *

After his interlude with the Captain, Cloud had made his way back to barracks to shower and pack up his things for their return to base.While SOLDIER moved forward with their ground advancements, the AVIATOR squads were offered a reprieve back at the massive Shinra naval base on an island west of Rocket Town.It positioned them just outside of Shinra territory, but also close enough to enemy waters for efficient deployment.

By the time Cloud had made it back to barracks to wash up, he was relieved to see that most of his comrades had cleared the showers.He already knew that his antics in the sky were likely a rampant topic, what with how he had clearly broken protocol again to show off.Reno was likely not pleased with the entire bit, because Cloud had managed to take down the KiSes that he was in a dogfight with.Zack would probably tease him about it.

Speaking of Zack, he had been the only one to wait behind for Cloud in the locker room.When Cloud came out of the showers, Zack was zipping up his boots on one of the benches.

“Ah, there you are, SPIKE,” Zack’s smile was easy, cavalier.He stood up from the bench, placing a hand on his hip. “Captain give you a hard time about your airshow today?”

Cloud was still turning over the fact that Cid had complimented him in the same space that he had chastised him.Opening his locker, facing away from Zack, he started rummaging for his clothes.

“I mean, he was blowing his usual smoke,” Cloud gibed, and Zack let out a loud laugh, tossing his head back. 

“That’s a good one.”

Cloud was pulling his sweat pants up, followed by a swift maneuver through his teeshirt, Shinra’s AVIATOR symbol stitched above the left breastbone, when he turned to Zack.“Yeah - I mean.I’m sorry I dropped you out there.It’s just that -“

Zack held up a hand.“Listen to me, Cloud, you don’t have to explain to me.I know you’re a bit of a renegade.Hell, if this place wasn’t so damn screwed up, that would’ve been your call sign.” Zack chuckled again, running his fingers through his long mess of black spikes that angled down his neck.“You turn into someone else up there, Cloud, and that’s alright.You’ve always had my back, and I was doing fine!If I needed you, I woulda called you back.”

“It seemed like Reno was in trouble,” Cloud said plainly, dropping onto the bench and pulling on his socks.

Zack chuckled.“Yeah, well, he’s feeling a little emasculated by you right now, if you know what I mean,” Zack was leaning against the lockers now, his arms folded across his chest as he waited for Cloud to finish.“Rude didn’t seem too happy when we got to the hangar either, I have to tell you.You… kinda made them look bad.”Cloud didn’t miss the mirth in Zack’s tone.

Cloud zipped up his boots and let his eyes meet his friend’s.He had been best friends with Zack since his recruitment into AVIATOR.At 27, two years older than Cloud, Zack was considered a natural leader amongst the ranks, earning his promotion with his prowess for guiding others.Cloud could not say exactly the same about himself.His raw skill as a pilot had helped move him through the ranks of the elite squadron of aviators more so than his ability to inspire others, and eventually, Zack and Cloud both reached their current rank of Lieutenant.

In many ways, Cloud and Zack were polar opposites, and perhaps that was what drew them to each other, back to their first days in the mess hall, when Zack would harass Cloud and ruffle his spiky blond hair - Zack was the miserable reason Cloud had earned his call sign, after all.Zack was spirited and outgoing, easy with any situation. He got along with the other aviators; he knew how to appease the superiors.And he was a family man - Zack was married to a beautiful girl named Aerith, and had twin boys - two-year-olds Essai and Sebastian - who lived on base.

Cloud was none of those things.He was largely a loner - aside from Zack, he kept his distance from the other pilots and his interactions with them cool.He was content to spend his free time out on training flights, or even in the flight sims, honing his craft (though the sims were not nearly as satisfactory). Though all AVIATORs were required to participate in a certain number of weekly training hours, along with mandatory evaluations, Cloud far outpaced any of them, and it showed up in his skill when it mattered.But he was a constant burden to the commanders.He was difficult to manage, he had been told once by a commanding officer.Cid called him a stupid, arrogant kid all the time, told him to get his head out of his ass before he got himself or somebody else killed.But Cloud just couldn’t tolerate being confined once he was in the sky.

As for women, Cloud was dispassionate.His fervor was for the open air, the sound of thunder in his ears when he pushed an engine to its maximum.There had been a girl he had liked, once, a really long time ago in Nibelheim, but he had almost forgotten her face.Almost.She had never really paid him attention, anyway.

Most nobody did, until he started executing whirls and dips in the sky, until he started dropping Wutain Needlekisses with blasts of materia missiles with the grace of a ballerina.

“That’s too bad,” Cloud replied cooly as he stood up, fully dressed, running his fingers through his still-damp blond hair to muss it back into place, a wild heap of feathery spikes.

“I figured you’d be devastated,” Zack flouted, pushing away from the locker and taking a stride forward as Cloud gathered his dirty clothes into his rucksack.“Good news is, we’ve got a bit of a break from this hunk of junk for a little while.I’ll be glad to get back to base.”

“Yeah,” Cloud agreed as they walked together out of the locker room and headed back to the barracks.“I’m sure Aerith and the kids can’t wait to see you.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Zack replied, laughing easily at the mention of his wife.“This last stretch has been a pain.But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night’s party on base.Today’s kills were a big victory for Shinra, Cloud.We gave SOLDIER an opening to capture one of the largest materia-laden villages on the Eastern Wutai coast.”

“Party?” Cloud repeated, completely disinterested in the politics.

“Yeah, Shinra’s sponsoring some kind of officer’s ball or something.All I know, booze, ladies, and a damn good time, that’s what we all need.”Zack, who was about a half-foot taller than Cloud, peered down at him knowingly.“You’ll be there, of course.”It wasn’t a question.

Cloud groaned as they made their way down some corridors toward the barracks.“You know the naval dives really aren’t my thing, Zack.”The thought of hanging around the rest of the brutish pilots in their division while they got drunk and made asses of themselves and likely made use of the time to harass him or push him into a fight, did not appeal to Cloud at all.

But Zack was waving him off. “Nah, I don’t want to hear about any of that.I’m not taking no for an answer this time, SPIKE.We’ve just had three weeks of constant dogfighting, and we’ve pushed the _Ueno_ back enough that Kisaragi is gonna have to rethink his entire strategy by the time Sephiroth is finished with them.” Zack stopped in the center of the hallway, took Cloud by the shoulders, and squared him up toface him.“Look, I know it’s not your thing, but this is a celebration for all of us.It’s not just about you this time, Cloud.And you need to take the edge off, relax a little bit, and take your head out of the clouds for once.Literally.”He gave Cloud a rough shake, then backed away, laughing.Cloud was still pouting at him.

“Yeah… fine,” he agreed, but not happily.

* * *

Tifa Lockhart was sitting at her desk in her office in Midgar, thumbing through some pages of a report on the supermaneuverability of Shinra F-80 Corvette bombers.Her current research efforts were revolved around understanding the limits of surface deflection and resulting directional force on the aircraft, and how this was impacted by pilot decision-making and skill.Her goal was to publish a report by the end of the month that could influence both pilot training and engineering redesign.

She was running her thumb across a diagram of a current model Corvette, her fingernail tracing the edges of its wingtips when her PHS rang on her desk.She glanced at the call display, seeing the name of her friend and colleague, Jessie Raspberry, who worked on the weapons side of flight mechanics, pop up on screen.

“Hey, Jessie,” she greeted, tucking the PHS between her ear and shoulder before continuing to study the lines of the jet diagram on the pages in front of her with dark, claret eyes.

“Tifa!”Jessie exclaimed, her voice piercing through the PHS.Tifa winced and pulled it away from her ear.“Can you believe it?The President is dead?”

Tifa blinked and frowned, Jessie’s words floating through her head but not landing with any particular coherence.She pushed away from her desk a little and sat up straighter.

“What?Dead?”

“ _Tiiifa_ ,” Jessie groaned, and Tifa could almost see Jessie shaking her head on the other side of the line.“Let me guess, you haven’t been checking your emails again.Check the email that just came from Admiral Heideggar!”

Tifa’s eyes widened as she leaned forward, pushing the diagram and reports aside as she reached for her laptop, sliding it open and navigating to her inbox.

_Dear Shinra Employee,_

_It is with heavy regret that we announce the untimely passing of our own President Shinra, who suffered an unexpected heart attack in his home last night.He is survived by his son, Vice President Rufus Shinra._

_As the Shinra Electric Power Company prepares to transition leadership, now-President Rufus asks that all company employees tune-in to a live address from the President at 800 hours this evening.You may access this telecast by clicking the video link below._

_Please join us in mourning this incredible loss to our organization._

_Office of the President_

_Shinra Electric Power Company_

Tifa sat back and let her eyes fall over the brief text, before turning her attention back to the PHS.“Well, I wasn’t expecting this,” she let out a breath.

“Rufus is President now…” Jessie was deliberating out loud.“I don’t know what that means for our jobs, but he is hot, isn’t he?”

Tifa rolled her eyes.“Honestly, I’ve heard he’s a bit of an asshole, Jessie.A mean asshole.”

She heard Jessie’s bright, colorful laughter peal through the receiver.“Well, I guess we’ll just have to see during tonight’s telecast, won’t we?Listen, I gotta go, Teef.I’ll call you later on tonight.”

“Okay.”

Tifa hung up the PHS and placed it carefully on the table.Reorganization at the top was always sure to throw any institution into chaos.Tifa glanced back at the seamless, flowing lines of the design of the F-80 Corvette in front of her, wondering how the AVIATOR program and other aeronautical endeavors within Shinra may change due to the shift in power.

At 24 years old, Tifa Lockhart was one of Shinra’s most talented aeronautical engineers and researchers, a PhD who led important research work for Shinra’s AVIATOR commission.While she did not frequent combat zones, she instead worked with a team of engineers studying, designing, refining, and evaluating the powerful machinery that took to the air during AVIATOR missions.She was currently studying ways to improve the supermaneuverability of the Corvette, Shinra’s most powerful fighter jet, as evaluations had found it unreliable, putting certain mission objectives at risk.

Tifa’s love for the sky and flying had been born back when she was a child in her hometown of Nibelheim.There, the sky was vast and open, and she spent most of her time under its wide berth, playing with her friends in the dusty valleys outside of Mt. Nibel, or watching the stars at night from her backyard or her window.She would watch the airships crest over the mountains as they tore by from Rocket Town,a large Shinra airbase and engineering city on the other side of Mt. Nibel, in awe of their size and rumbling power, and the way their engines screamed in the air above like dragons.Sometime after her mother had died, Tifa had begged and begged her father to take her to Rocket Town to ride in an airship. When he finally did, Tifa realized that she not only loved the sky itself, but she loved the very machines that made flying a reality.

When Tifa’d arrived in Midgar at sixteen for university, her advisors and professors quickly discovered her incredible talent for mathematics.Tifa hadn’t realized it back then, but math had been a part of every facet of her life.Her free time in Nibelheim was spent learning to play the piano, and it was only when she came to study in Midgar, pressed by her advisors, that she realized that a piece of music was very much like a complex equation, both requiring the skill and precision of the artist or the mathematican to peel apart and dissect to understand its beauty.

And that was how she came to infuse her passions into a study of aeronautical engineering, her dissertation research focused on the connection of supermaneuverability capabilities of modern jet engine planes and pilot skill.Soon after her defense, she’d been recruited personally by Admirals Palmer and Heiddegar of Shinra, who often sent Turks to scout new recruits for engineers and researchers at doctoral defenses at the university.For the past two years, she’d been focused on her research here in Midgar, her work sometimes giving her the opportunity to travel to Rocket Town or to one of AVIATOR’s many naval bases around the planet.

Just as Tifa picked up her pen to jot some notes into the margins of the Corvette blueprint, a gentle rapping came at her door.Glancing up, Tifa dropped her pen, not expecting any visitors.

“Come in.”

The door slid open silently, and to Tifa’s great surprise, Commander Tseng of the Turks, Rufus’ personal bodyguard, was standing in her doorway, his slim body a straight black line in his tailored suit, his raven hair a perfect silk river cascading calmly over his shoulders.

Blinking in astonishment, Tifa quickly pushed herself to her feet, tugging down on the hem of her blazer to straighten it as she rose.

“Dr. Lockhart,”Tseng’s voice was as deep and crisp as the ocean.“President Rufus requires you in his office at once.”

Tifa felt her heart lodge in her throat as her eyebrows shot up.The President?How completely unexpected.Why would Rufus want to see her, a researcher of all people?

“Oh, I - right now, sir?”

“At once,” Tseng repeated cooly.

Right.Tifa felt her stomach turn over and twist, and she glanced down at her desk, looking for a notebook and pen.Tseng was standing in the doorway, watching her intently, waiting for her to join him, and every second that ticked by as he waited filled her with the ridiculous notion that she was taking too long.She rifled some of the papers on the desk, pushing aside the reports and the blueprints and finally found her small, leather-bound journal.She retrieved her PHS, then clipped a pen onto her notebook before she stepped from behind her desk to join Tseng.

Wordlessly, Tseng turned and led Tifa down the hall as she clipped her office door closed behind them.He walked in fluid, seamless strides down the corridors of her floor, ignoring the other employees who milled about on their daily tasks, some raising an eyebrow or turning to stare at seeing her with the Commander of the General Affairs Department, Shinra’s most elite and mysterious division.He led them to the tubular glass elevators at the northern side of the building, and Tifa watched as he slid his keycard into a slot from an extension clip at his waist, gently punching in floor _70_ on the keypad with his index finger. 

Tifa stood side by side with Tseng in the elevator, her hands clasping her notebook over her skirt in front of her.This elevator was completely encased in glass, and offered a spectacular view of Midgar as it ascended.Tifa glanced over at Tseng out of the corner of her eye; he was standing perfectly still with his hands folded in front of him, staring straight ahead.Tifa had half a mind to ask him why she was being summoned, but the idea died in her skull as quickly as it had been conceived.

When the elevator chimed their arrival, Tseng held one arm out against the door, the other sweeping a gesture for her to pass.A silent and deadly gentleman, she mused, but a gentleman none the less.

She stepped through, then waited and let Tseng lead her down the immaculate corridor. Instantly Tifa took note of the extravagance of this floor in comparison to the others - the floors carpeted in deep vermilion, the graphite walls and ceilings, the endless stairs that led to the President’s office.

Tseng’s stride was quick, and Tifa had to jog a little to keep up. When they reached the President’s office, passing a receptionist silently in the outer vestibule, Tseng gave a gentle double knock to the massive wood-paneled doors before pushing them open with both hands.

Sunlight was the first thing to greet Tifa as she followed Tseng inside the office.The President’s office was completely wreathed by floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun’s rays pouring into the massive room, washing over the dark marble support pillars that held up the ceiling, filtering over the soft, plush carpeting that hugged the floor.For such a large office, it was scantly furnished, save for an oversized desk in the center rear of the room, which was flanked on either side by four large, translucent monitors.

At its center, Rufus Shinra sat, leaning his head on one hand, his eyes down at something on his desk.As they entered, his head lifted slowly, icy blue irises falling on her with an alarming slowness.

Tifa felt gooseflesh erupt across her arms as Rufus’ stare greeted her body, the hairs on her arms tickling the silk blouse she wore beneath her blazer.

“Ah, Dr. Lockhart,”Rufus was rising, his eyes steady on her.“What a pleasure it is to meet you.”His hand was suddenly extended, all long, pale fingers, over his desk.

Tifa glanced at Tseng as if to ask him what to do, but he was making his way over to the side of the room to fetch a chair.Tifa stepped forward, feeling her heels as they sank into the carpet, and in what seemed like slow motion, her hand was extended, and Rufus’, palms ensconced in leather but fingertips free beyond the knuckles, was closing around hers.

“N-nice you meet you as well, Mr. President,” she finally emitted.

“Please have a seat,” he told her, and Tseng was suddenly behind her with a high-backed wooden chair, upholstered in burgundy and trimmed with gold.

Tifa nodded and slowly sank back into her seat, while Tseng moved to stand behind her, off somewhere to her left.Rufus sank back into his massive black leather armchair, his arms draped casually, confidently, over the armrests.He titled his head to the side slightly at her as he regarded her with a smirk that toyed at only one corner of his lips, a sliver of his pale golden-blonde hair slipping over his right eye.

Tifa folded her hands in her lap carefully as she waited for him to speak.She was not sure if she was breathing.

“Dr. Lockhart, I won’t waste either of our time with small talk,” Rufus was saying, the baritone in his voice seemed to be vibrating the floor.“I have called you here concerning the AVIATOR program.Now that I will be inaugurated to the Presidency of this company, I have begun to already give direction for some significant changes.”

_Oh no,_ Tifa thought, trying to steel her face from displaying any betraying emotions. _He’s going to cut the program, cut the funding to my research._

Rufus held up a thick, three-ring binder that was wrapped in black leather.He lowered it on the side of the desk facing her, leaning forward to slide it towards her.She leaned forward to read the print that was stamped into the cover.

_Improving the Supermaneuverability of Flight Aerodynamics Through Pilot Fusion:An Examination of the Connection of Man and Machine._

Her dissertation.

Tifa frowned, slightly, then blushed, then backed away from the paper, intimately familiar with its contents.“I don’t understand, sir.”

Rufus’ smirk twitched slightly, his gaze holding hers.The ice in his eyes made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Dr. Lockhart, I’ve read your entire thesis.I’ve also been following some of the research you’ve done since you have been employed here.”Rufus gestured to a collection of folders scattered across his desk.“It really is quite fascinating.I certainly am no expert in aeronautical engineering, but I found your work impressive.”

The smoothness of his voice was decaying.“Th, thank you, Mr. President,” she replied in a small voice.

“Dr. Lockhart, you are aware of the mako infusion process that SOLDIERS undergo?”

Tifa blinked, nodding at him slowly.

Rufus stood up.“Lockhart, you have no idea how brilliant your work truly is.”He gingerly leaned forward to pick up her thesis again with that partially gloved hand, the milky whites of his knuckles paling even further as they wrapped around the spine of the binder.He flipped open to a page deep in the document.

“ _It can be further speculated that enhancement processes, such as the mako treatments endured by members of SOLDIER, can further boost pilot skill and proficiency in the use of combat aircraft.Such measures should be considered with careful tuning of the aviator’s adaptability and skill in the handling of any particular piece of aeronautical machinery, especially combat jets_.” Rufus read aloud from the page, then slapped the binder shut and placed it on the desk again.

Tifa swallowed, watching him.It was a passage from her Discussion section, where she outlined the future implications of her research.She was unaware of any other researchers who had looked into that particular suggestion.The truth was that while aerospace was an important part of Shinra’s overall military structure, it was hardly the most important, or properly funded one.

“Brilliant,” Rufus repeated. 

“Sir?”Tifa queried, watching as Rufus sank with grace back into his chair, pulling gently on the lapels of his dazzling white blazer.

“Dr. Lockhart, AVIATOR will be beginning a Mako treatment process for all naval pilots effective immediately,” Rufus explained in a crisp, authoritative voice, causing her eyes to widen.“You will be put in charge of the program.We will be piloting at the Minerva Naval Base off of Rocket Town.You will work with a small fleet squadron there.”

Tifa inhaled air much too quickly, and she nearly choked.She felt a panicked heat rise up through her, starting somewhere near her ankles until it reached her ears.

Tifa knew nothing about mako enhancements.She only speculated about it, because it sounded like it was a good implication to include in her thesis at the time.How could she possibly lead a program like this?

“Sir, I -“ 

“I know what you’re thinking, Dr. Lockhart,” Rufus cut her off with a wave of his hand in the air.“You will not be responsible for any part of the mako treatments.We have scientists well trained in that.” He looked at her, lowering his hand, and letting his forearms drape precariously across his armrests again. “You will, however, be responsible for training and instructing the pilots, working with them one on one and with the fleet squadron as a whole, just as you hypothesized in this paper.” 

Tifa just continued to stare, her mouth dry.

“We need to improve the supermaneuverability of these Corvettes, Dr. Lockhart, in order for us to execute my strategy in defeating Wutai.”

Tifa let out a breath.Judging from the look on his face, he had said all he had to on the matter.

“I- I see, Mr. President.”She knew that she should say more, that she should express excitement, or interest, or even doubt - but her throat was thick and dry.This man was so intimidating, and he had just placed an enormous challenge before her, one that had been wrought from her own words and research, but that she had never thought she would see come to fruition, much less under her complete authority.

“You leave for assignment at the end of the week,” Rufus said with a note of finality.“You’ll have the next few days to sort out your affairs.” 

As Tifa swallowed, brain scrambling for a reply, Rufus was turning back to his computer screen.

“Tseng, you may escort Dr. Lockhart out,” He said, his eyes not turning back to her.

To her left, Tseng nodded, and looked down at her expectantly.Tifa rose slowly, her legs jelly as she turned.Tseng was resuming his long, swift strides across the expanse of the office, towards the doors.Completely flabbergasted, Tifa simply followed suit.

She had nearly reached the door when Rufus spoke again.

“Dr. Lockhart?”

Tifa turned to him, her heart beginning to pound again.

“It’s a New Era,” he told her with a wink.

Tifa left the office, shaking.Over the coming weeks, after Rufus was officially inaugurated, she would see _Shinra: A New Era_ propaganda posted everywhere she turned.

* * *

Minerva Naval Base was one of Shinra’s largest, occupying the near entirety of a 3,400 acre continental island that clung to the Western continent, near the borders of Rocket Town.Its location was ideal, allowing ships and aircraft to easily move across the Western Sea to engage in combat against Wutai, while remaining close enough to mainland bases and Shinra territory.

_The Proud Condor_ had docked at base sometime after three AM that next night, and Cloud and his entire fleet squadron had disembarked, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed despite the late hour.No matter the seaman’s love of the ocean and the airman’s love of the sky, all men eventually long to return to land.

Cloud had managed to ignore the stares and the snide comments he received from his fellow pilots, instead sheltering himself in a cool facade of arrogance as he found his way to his private apartment on base, which was down the hall from Zack’s.He let Reno’s glare roll off of him with a disinterested shrug, his bright blue eyes daring the redhead to challenge him, so he could throw it back in his and Rude’s faces that he’d had to swoop in and save the day before they both got clipped by a KiS. 

Reno seemed to sense this coming, and backed off with a sneer.

Cloud had passed out in his bed - far more comfortable than the fittings aboard the ship - as soon as he lay face down across the mattress.He slept until late the next afternoon, the exhaustion from their deployment on the ship seeping out of his bones and his muscles.He only woke when Zack was pounding on his door, reminding him about the officer’s ball.

It had taken quite a bit of rousing and some shoving, but Zack had managed to convince Cloud to shower, shave away his stubble, and dress in the crisp service-dress version of his AVIATOR uniform for the night, so that he now stood with his back against the wall of the on-base hall where the event was being held.In Cloud’s opinion, and much to his earlier suspicious, the event was really just a slight variation of a bar scene where sailors and pilots who’d been at sea for too long had the opportunity to drink and pick up any of the navy groupies who hung out at these kinds of events.The misnomer had come because the nights were originally intended for those who lived on base with their wives or significant others to bring them out to celebrate, but over time, things had grown much looser from those original designs.

Zack had found him sometime later, bringing over beers for them, a beautiful woman on his arm.Her chestnut hair, long and wavy, was plaited against her back, wispy fringe hanging around her bright green eyes.Cloud broke into an easy smile when he saw them approach.

“Cloud!” The woman exclaimed, and she slid her arm out from Zack’s, leaning forward to wrap a warm hug around his shoulders.“I’m so glad you guys are back on base.That was a long tour!”

Cloud nodded, rubbing at the back of his neck.“Hey, Aerith.Yeah, we’re all a little tired, I guess. How are the twins?”

Aerith released him and stepped back towards Zack, who wrapped his arm around her slender waist, pulling her in close. “Oh, Essai and Sebastian are doing wonderful. I can’t believe that they are almost three!” She turned to Zack, her emerald irises aglow. “I’m just really glad we’ll be able to celebrate together, on base.Zack tells me your next deployment is not for some months.”

Cloud shrugged, never really believing or trusting Shinra’s deployment schedules.Zack jumped in.“That’s right, babe.SOLDIER is pulling their weight on the ground as we speak.”

“Seems like they should be able to finally end this war once and for good, with somebody like Sephiroth in charge,” Aerith commented haphazardly, bringing her glass with a frothy pink liquid up to her lips.

Cloud took a long drink of the beer Zack had brought him, half-listening to his friends banter about Shinra and the war efforts and family life on the base and everything else Aerith brought up as she changed subjects as effortlessly as a butterfly flutters its wings.

Cloud let his eyes drift across the room, his mind filtering images of yesterday’s dogfight over his vision.He was staring at the HUD again, watching the blinking red dots of KiSes as they closed in on their airspace, their movements evasive, their intrusion sudden.He remembered the barks of ground control to follow the script, Cid cursing when he veered off page to chart his own path.He remembered the thrill of the vibrations of his Corvette’s engines pushing through his internal organs when he shoved the throttle hard to the right, sending the bird into a nosedive.He vaguely thought he could smell his own adrenaline, it had been pumping so desperately in his blood.

His vision of the memory was interrupted when his eyes fell on a woman who was seated at the bar across the room, alone, nursing an amber drink in a short tumbler.He’d seen plenty of women already that night, and most of them were pretty enough to warrant a double-take, but he wasn’t interested, hadn’t come here tonight to be interested.He’d come here tonight to show face and to get just drunk enough to get Zack off his back and to pass out into deep sleep when he got back to his apartment.But something outside of his control caused him to freeze when his eyes brushed across the woman at the bar, pausing long enough to drink her in completely.

She was gorgeous, he realized instantly, and not in the passing, insipid manner of most of the women he passed at these kinds of shindigs. 

The first thing that caught his eyes was her dark curtain of hair, long and almost black in the low lighting of the bar, pooling around her shoulders and waist like she was covered in oil. Her face was sculpted in the perfect shape of a heart, full pouty lips that he could see shining with a smattering of some kind of gloss.As his eyes settled on her, she brought her glass up to those lips and took a small sip, angling her body slightly in his direction as she drank.

Cloud’s breath hitched in his throat, but she didn’t look in his direction, instead focusing on the yellow liquid that passed her lips.

With the new angle of her body, Cloud could make out the distinct curves of her body in the way she was perched on the barstool.Her shoulders were narrow and fine, and her breasts were pushed up full against a pale blue silk blouse.Her waist was a sharp indent that preceded a full hip that spilled slightly over the barstool with the angle she was sitting in, swathed in a navy blue pencil skirt.From there, impossibly long legs, folded one over the other, tucked into navy blue stilettos, dangled off of the stool.

Cloud’s eyes were openly roving the hills and valleys of her shape for an unacceptable amount of time before they snapped back up to admire her face, only to find her openly staring at him with eyes the color of his favorite sangria.

His own eyes, the color of chalcanthite, caught those deep red irises and held them unintentionally.Hers betrayed an unreadable expression as Cloud let them and her entire face imprint on his brain before he remembered himself, growing hot and red as he blushed with embarrassment, and pulled away, breaking the contact as if it had burned him.

_What the fuck_?His mind screamed, those ruby red eyes searing the back of his brain with familiarity.He had seen those eyes before.He knew those eyes anywhere. 

_It can’t be._

“ _Cloud_ ,” Aerith’s hand was squeezing his forearm with a vice-like grip, and he snapped out of the fog, shaking his head to glance at her, finding Zack also hovering in his personal space.“Did you hear anything Zack said?”

“What?” Cloud said stupidly.

Zack’s eyebrow was up high, almost leaving his face.“I was talking about the email we got tonight.About Rufus?” Zack glanced over at the bar, shaking his head.“But it looks like you found some eye candy.Want to go get a taste?”

Cloud blushed again, shaking his head furiously. “No, no no.Sorry, I was just thinking.What about Rufus?”

Zack made a face like he didn’t believe him, but he didn’t press.“I told you to make sure you check your email at least twice a day.The President is coming here on Monday to speak to our entire fleet squadron.Highwind has been on the warpath all day worrying about preparations and the next big project.There’s a rumor going around that Rufus has something big in store for AVIATOR to help us in the war effort.”

More politics.Cloud nodded absently, his eyes drifting over to the bar again.He saw the woman rise from her barstool, slide her empty glass towards the bartender, and adjust her bright yellow patent-leather purse over her shoulder before she turned to walk towards the exit.

“Uh, yeah.I read the email.” Cloud lied to Zack and turned away, maneuvering himself away from where both Aerith and Zack hovered way too close.“I’ll be right back.”

Cloud could hear Zack’s laughter and Aerith’s muffled giggles into his friends’ chest as he made off in the direction of the woman with the ebony tresses and carmine eyes.

Cloud caught up with the woman when she had only made it a few paces away from the bar.She had stopped in the middle of the floor, holding her purse to her hip, her head slowly turning and scanning the room as if she were looking for someone.Cloud stopped behind her and lingered long enough to let his eyes traverse the lines of her shape, wrapped in silk and nylon, her rear a perfect, full curve in her skirt, kissed by the tips of her dark hair.

Swallowing and acting on pure impulse as if he were behind the throttle of his F-80 Corvette, he reached forward and let his gloved hand circle and grasp her wrist.

Startled, the woman jumped, and Cloud dropped her wrist as she turned to him.Her eyes connected with his, and he could see that she recognized him from the stare that they had shared across the room moments ago. 

“Sorry,” he said in a rushed breath as her full lips parted in a pout, teasing him unnecessarily as if she were about to speak, but hesitated.“I just - “

Cloud stopped, her eyes boring into his.Up close, he knew instantly who she was.No one else had eyes that were the color of cabernet but singed with droplets of blood, flecking across the iris every time they darted unwaveringly in the light.Her face had matured - somehow grown more beautiful - the lines of her cheeks sharpening into high cheekbones with well-defined slopes, her nose still a pert button.Her eyebrows were perfectly arched, providing cover for the wide almonds of her eyes.

“Y-yes?”Her eyes were narrowing at him, as if she were trying to remember something.

Cloud felt his face grow hot.He started to turn away, but Reno was at the bar, watching him with open amusement.He saw the redhead slap Rude’s chest at his side, nodding at his bald companion to join him in observing Cloud’s predicament.

The woman had dropped one hand to touch her wrist where he had grabbed her, rubbing her fingers gently over the flesh as if he had scalded her.Cloud watched this in slow motion, his brain misfiring rounds of reasoned thought like a combat jet that hadn’t properly locked on target.

“You just look familiar,” Cloud finally finished his thought, then righted his stance, remembering himself and his reputation.Reno was still gaping at him.“I mean, I’ve probably just seen you in my dreams.” 

The woman laughed then, tossing her head back, exposing her throat.Cloud was hot again, but his confidence returned and he wanted to grab her wrist again, maybe even grasp that pretty white throat and wrap his mouth around it.

“Let me buy you a drink,” he said quickly to her, stepping closer.

The woman looked back at him, her eyes connecting with his again.As if seeing the seriousness that lie in his depths of sapphire, her own began to stir gently in their sockets.Cloud wondered what thoughts were turning over in her mind, and if he could get her away from here.

“I’m… meeting a friend,” she said in a sudden rush, “Sorry.”

Her face was bright red as she turned away, making for the door.

Cloud stared at her back, at the curve of those hips and the lines of those legs as she made a quick stride towards the door. 

_Tifa Lockhart,_ his brain was screaming; his heart was roaring at him.

To the side, Cloud heard Reno guffawing.

Cloud went after her.

* * *

Tifa had made her way outside to the patio in front of the hall where the officer’s ball was being held.The weather was generally warm and mild in the Rocket area this time of year, but on this island, surrounded by water, a gusty breeze was kicked up in the air, prickling her arms through her blouse.She wondered absently where Jessie was.

Tifa and Jessie, who she’d brought along to help her with studying the weapons aspects of the aircraft she would be working with, had arrived at Minerva Naval Base the prior evening, just before the squadron she was set to start training had docked after their return from a mission in Wutai.She’d been given footage of that mission and was asked to review it before she started working with the pilots.She hadn’t touched it just yet.

Jessie encouraged her that it might be a good idea for them to visit the ball which was more of a bar scene for sailors and the civilians who lived on base with them than an actual formal affair.It would be a good way for them to get to know some of their new colleagues before work started on Monday, when Rufus Shinra personally would be introducing her and the new AVIATOR Mako pilot program they would be participating in.Tifa had agreed, in theory, it had made sense, but it turned out that Jessie was much better adapted to the bar scene than she was, and she had left her to her own devices.Tifa realized then that she was spending the rest of the time nursing her single drink while fending off crude advances from sailors who had obviously been out to sea their entire lives and had never learned a thing about manners or speaking respectfully to a lady.

Then she had caught him staring at her.

The boy, no, the man with the wild cerulean eyes and the fluffy yellow hair, mussed up like a chocobo’s feathers after it rises from a nap in the hay.He was so handsome, she had thought over and over again, in a boyishly cute way, his eyes gentle but perched above a smirk that held some intent that didn’t seem quite so pure. 

It was kind of thrilling to catch him staring at her like that - a male that gorgeous openly admiring her with a seriousness that was neither leery nor perverse, but… appreciative, admiring, needful.

And then her senses had returned to her, and she swallowed air when he caught himself and turned away.

She had thought she had managed to collect herself, and was making off to find Jessie when suddenly he was touching her.His hand, swathed in a leather glove, was around her wrist.He had crossed the room so quickly she had not even noticed, and then he was standing there, swathed in his navy blue AVIATOR uniform like every other man in the room, only his seemed to sit taut across the muscles in his chest and arms, displaying the lean definition of his body.And up close, those blue eyes plunged her into an ocean, not unlike the one that was not far from where they stood.

He was nervous, about to say something, and then he was suddenly forward, dropping one of the cheesiest pickup lines she could recall in recent memory, and she felt like she had known this silly boy for years.

Tifa had felt something tugging at the edges of her memory, but it was snuffed out like a flame when he asked her to have a drink.Tifa then remembered herself and decided it was time to exit the situation.These men were her colleagues, no, worse, they were going to be her students.Jessie’s idea had been a terrible one.This had only been an open invitation for men to hit on her. 

So she politely declined despite the fact that she was _definitely_ interested in that drink.

Outside, she inhaled the summer air, smelling the ocean.Although the base was small compared to living in Midgar, she decided she liked the openness of it, the proximity to water and sky.She figured she could get used to it for the six to nine months she was stationed to live here for this project.

She needed to find Jessie, though.She was reaching into her purse for her PHS to find her, hoping that she hadn’t made off with some sailor to ruin their professional reputations before they’d even started, when she felt warm leather around her wrist.

She turned and was treading water in deep blue again.

“I’m sorry,” he was saying, and Tifa noted the silver wings on his lapel as she turned to him, her wrist on fire again.This man wasn’t just a navyman; he was an AVIATOR, one of the very ones she was expected to work with -

_“One on one,”_ Rufus was saying in the back of her mind.

He let her wrist go, and she saw him bring up a hand to the back of his neck, scratching at it as if he were embarrassed suddenly.His cheeks were dusted red, and his eyes seemed to flicker back and forth between two torrents of raging emotions just as his actions were - bold brashness and doubtful bashfulness. Tifa felt herself getting swept up in his hurricane, and she took a physical step back.

“I didn’t mean to alarm you,” the man was saying to her, his voice had lost a little bit of its hard edge and had lowered several decibels in volume.“It’s just, you are very beautiful.And you _do_ look familiar to me, but it’s nothing.I’d still like to buy you a drink, if you’ll let me.”

Tifa’s eyes softened, something in her chest melting into a puddle at the softness of his words.His handsome face was boyish again, the sides of his mouth were almost turned down into a hopeful pout.Again, the back of her brain stirred and pricked, like a snake rising and testing the air in front of it, prepared to strike. 

She wanted to kiss him. 

Tifa pushed the stupidity from her brain.What was she even thinking?Such behavior would ruin her career.All she could think about was Admiral Heiddegar, or Jessie’s boss Scarlet, or worse of all President Rufus finding out she was engaging in such unbecoming professional behavior.She’d be reprimanded severely, or probably fired.

“I really don’t think -“

He was holding her hand.It was clasped inside of his suddenly, and she was wondering what kind of man used these tactics to pick up a woman.

“Okay, okay!We don’t have to go back inside.” It was as if he were reading her mind.“If I buy you a drink and bring it out here, will you at least drink it for me?I’ll help you find your friend.What’s his name?”

_Why did he assume she was here with a man?_ Her thoughts were furious.

“Her name is Jessie,” Tifa replied as if she were already drunk.

She saw his smirk widen, though not spread into a full out smile.He released her hand, then looked around, spotting a wooden bench against the building.

“Here, have a seat there,” his hand was at the small of her back, barely touching her, but directing her nonetheless. “I’ll be right back, I promise.Please don’t leave.”

Tifa sat down at his plea, and watched him hightail it back inside, her back on fire where he’d touched her.

Seven, almost eight minutes had passed when he returned.They felt like hours, and Tifa had considered getting up and walking back to the small apartment Shinra had issued her on base.But she couldn’t just leave Jessie.She called her PHS to no response, then sent her an urgent text message that also went unanswered.By that point, Tifa was bouncing her right knee up and down ferociously with anxiety.

When he’d returned, he had a bright red drink in one hand, a stupid and plucky looking Jessie draped across the other.

“I found your friend,” he said a little sheepishly, trying to keep Jessie from falling too provocatively over his chest.“And here’s your drink.A Cosmo Canyon.The same color as your eyes… beautiful.”

_How does he keep doing that_ , Tifa’s brain screamed. _Weaving between awkward and completely forward?_

Tifa blushed, but looked at Jessie before accepting the drink.“Jessie, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Tiiiifaa,” Jessie responded, her voice slurring as she leaned awkwardly against him, pulling at the collar of his AVIATOR uniform.“Your friend here saved me from some savage AVIATOR brutes who were just ready to rip me apart.” Her theatrics were admirable as she wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, toying at the tufts of blond hair behind his neck.“My hero.”

Tifa watched with amusement as he tried to peel Jessie off of him without being too insulting, holding Tifa’s drink out to her with one hand.She accepted it, and as he gave Jessie a gentle nudge in her direction, she caught her friend and colleague with her free arm and propped the slurring girl up against the frame of her body while she stopped to taste the glass.

Under her lashes, as she drank, she noticed his eyes were watching her throat, until they lowered and trailed the rest of her body.

When she finished, she handed him the glass back.“The Cosmo Canyon is really good.Thank you for the drink.And, for finding my friend.We should get going now.C’mon on, Jessie.”

“I can give you a ride on my motorcycle,” He informed her, once again being completely direct.

Tifa shook her head.“We are less than a block away.” She needed to get her and Jessie away before this got anymore entrenched or embarrassing.“We will be fine.This is a naval base, for all of Holy.Some of you may be troglodytes, but I certainly don’t fear for my safety.”

She noticed that his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only nodded, and told them to be safe before she and Jessie walked up the well-lit block together, hand in hand, the Cosmo Canyon settling in her belly, her thoughts swirling with the handsome, torrential, conflicted AVIATOR and his wild blue eyes and fluffy yellow hair and the pinpricks of home that poked the back of her skull every time he spoke.

* * *

Cloud stood outside of the event hall staring down the road, watching Tifa and Jessie disappear as they returned to their apartment until Zack and Aerith found him a little later, Aerith’s intoxicated giggles rising like mist into the air above them, Zack’s palm a rock on his shoulder as it clasped it, urging them all to return home, the twin’s babysitter was probably ready to call it quits and they all needed to get some rest before the big visit from the President.

Tifa hadn’t recognized him at all, and the realization had hit him in waves, one, two, three times as he had stood there, watching her leave.Jessie, her mouth as big and as drunk as it was, confirmed Tifa’s identity and had even given him her number after he had found her tangled between Reno and Rude at the bar (another reason for Reno to hate him, but he didn’t care).All he had to do was call.

The number was buried deep in his pocket.He didn’t know why Tifa was on this naval base.He didn’t know for how long, either.None of it made sense.

But as the slip of paper Jessie’d handed him burned a hole in his pocket, he realized how much it ruined him inside that she didn’t remember at all.


	2. Take My Breath Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has given this fic a chance! I hope you all are enjoying it.
> 
> This chapter takes its title from the Berlin song, "Take My Breath Away".
> 
> Fic is now E moving forward.

CHAPTER TWO

Take My Breath Away

* * *

“A hot one today, huh? Fuck.”

Cloud nodded in agreement to Zack’s cuss as they found themselves seats outside on the tarp, where rows of folding chairs were set in front of a large, makeshift platform, a podium with the Shinra logo emblazoned on its center.AVIATORs, all instructed to wear service dress white for the President’s arrival, were filing in to take their seats among the rows.Cloud could see Captain Cid standing near the platform, scrutinizing his ranks with a cigarette dangling from his lips, his eyebrows curled near to a sneer as he inspected every pilot’s uniform.The sun was blaring down on the naval base, eliciting sweat on Cloud’s forehead, and it was no help that they’d elected to set the stage in the middle of a flight runway, the asphalt absorbing the sun’s rays and charging it back at their flesh.The quiet lapping of the ocean a few thousand feet away at shore was the only small mercy, pulling in gentle July breezes that occasionally cooled the perspiration on his brow.

Cloud settled on a folding chair beside Zack, dropping his hands in his lap as his comrades slid into seats around him.Ahead, his eyes narrowed as they fell on twin red vertical banners that were propped on the stage, both announcing _A New Era_ , with Rufus Shinra’s name scrawled beneath in a mock-up of his infamously jarring personal signature.Behind the podium, a massive red flag with the Shinra crest flapped delicately against the breeze where it hung from a flagpole.

Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose as the area began to crowd.The rumors about this visit had spread and swirled like wildfire.It was rare that even Admiral Heideggar frequented base; that usually only happened when there was a major shift in tactics or strategy.And President Shinra _never_ made an appearance.Though, Cloud figured, Rufus had just assumed the seat of power the week prior.It made sense that he might want to visit all of the military branches to assert his dominance, after all, he did own them.

Cloud had been sitting there with that distasteful thought poisoning one corner of his brain, his fleet mates chattering amongst themselves, when the distinctive whir of a helicopter’s blades cut through the air above the base.Cloud narrowed his eyes and watched as the chopper made a descent over the runway a few hundred feet away, whipping wind at them and disrupting their uniforms, drubbing the banners on the platform.The small crowd of AVIATORs seated around him grew quiet, watching as the helicopter’s hatch opened and a trio of figures appeared.

Rufus Shinra, the newly inaugurated President of Shinra Electric Power Company, appeared first, shrouded in white coats with lavender lapels.Even from the distance, his countenance was blinding under the bright sun.He was followed by Commander Tseng of the Turks, a sharp contrast swathed fully in black, and behind them trailed Admiral Heideggar, his figure large and imposing in its dark green military dress.

Rufus moved with fluid, purposeful strides, and every step closer he took, the deeper the silence around Cloud grew.As he approached, Cloud could see the deep, emotionless smirk that graced the President’s face, his pale yellow hair spilling across his pale eyes, otherwise undisturbed by the chaos of the wind and the chopper’s blades.He heard Zack mutter something unintelligible under his breath, but Cloud only folded his arms across his chest and sat back, despising all of the politics of this war as he watched Rufus Shinra move gracefully up the steps and across the platform to the podium.

Rufus stood behind the podium, his hands at his sides.Tseng and Heideggar had both moved to stand behind him.

“AVIATOR,” was the first and only word he said, before he dropped his steely blue gaze to Captain Cid Highwind, who took it as some sort of signal, and raised his hands above his head in the sign of a V.

The rallying sign of their branch.

The naval pilots around Cloud, including Zack, all raised their arms in tandem, lifting impassioned shouts into the air.Cloud relented and did the same, though he didn’t open his mouth to let out a cry of camaraderie, instead letting his eyes hang on Rufus until he was satisfied with the open display of military reverence.

When the AVIATORs had died down in their adoration, Rufus let his pale gaze scan the crowd.Gloved hands came up to grip the sides of the podium as he leaned forward.

“ _A New Era_ ,” he began with the company’s new slogan, and Cloud instantly hated the smoothness of his voice, the cold attractiveness of his face.His mind turned over with unpleasant thoughts about how this man, not much older than he, was able to control and reign over any man or woman on a moment’s whim, just with a simple word from his lips or a certain expression on his face.Cloud aimed his surly frown at his boots where they were planted on the tarp.

“Shinra is embarking on a New Era to solidify our dominance on the planet, to improve and enhance the lives of all,” Rufus continued, his voice raking satin through the loudspeakers that were installed overhead.“Rich or poor, Shinra’s technologies have made, and continue to make, life on Gaia a truly enriched experience for all mankind.”

Cloud thought about his mother’s cabin in Nibelheim, and stifled a bitter snort.

“Only one nation stands in the way of our goals - the nation-state of Wutai.”

This elicited an escalating jeer from the crowd of uniforms.Even Zack put up a fist into the air in agreement.Cloud only stared ahead.

“While I come before you today to greet you as your new President, I am also proud to announce a new initiative that will catapult AVIATOR, one of Shinra’s finest military units, to the forefront of the war effort.

 _Here it comes_.

“Effective immediately, AVIATOR units will commence mako treatments,”Rufus announced in one short burst, and the air around them all began to stiffen, before lighting up with a charge.Rufus let his eyes scan the crowd for their reaction.Even Cid had turned around, snuffing his cigarette out against the sole of his boot.

Rufus’s bottom lip curled in satisfaction at the disturbance his words had wrought.“Why mako, for pilots who merely fly at distance towards their enemies, aiming blasts of magic and machine, rather than the might of the sword or fist?”Rufus laughed, a low, intrusive rumble.“We know from decades of research that mako showers enhance all skill - including that of maneuvering aircraft.Gentlemen, in order for you to be the best of the best, the truly elite - you must endure the sacrifice that will grant you abilities far beyond your greatest imaginations.”

Rufus’ romantic language began to stroke the sensibilities of some of the pilots, while also assuaging their fears.Cloud heard several whoops of excitement and agreement begin to filter through the ranks.

Rufus held up a hand.“Before we get ahead of ourselves,” he cautioned, dipping his head so that a shock of flaxen hair caressed his brow, “I must inform you that we do not take this effort lightly.In the coming weeks, each of you will undergo meticulous training associated with your flight skills, monitoring your effectiveness under the enhancement of mako.”Rufus’ eyes narrowed dangerously as he watched the crowd of airmen, having earned their rapt and devout attention. “But, let me not be the one to elaborate on this incredible opportunity.I must now take the opportunity, and the pleasure, to introduce you to your instructor, and our lead researcher on _Project Mighty Wings_ , Dr. Tifa Lockhart.”

Cloud’s heart stopped beating.

Applause began to unfold around him, and Cloud carefully joined in, his eyes drifting to where she suddenly stood in the front row.She was wearing a slate gray suit with another damn pencil skirt that stopped just above her knees, the rest of her legs encased in sheer nylons that were shining under the sun.The dark stilettos she wore made her calves look even longer as she crossed over to the platform, carefully taking the steps up and making her way across the stage toward the podium.

Cloud almost hissed at the look on Rufus’ face as he regarded Tifa when she came up to stand beside him at the podium.The President moved a few inches out of the way, but was still entirely too close to Tifa, the sleeve of his jacket just brushing against her blazer.He watched, no longer inhaling oxygen, as Tifa took a deep breath and leaned over the podium towards the microphone.

“Good morning, AVIATOR,” Tifa’s voice was crisp, but Cloud could detect the slightest waver in its undertone.She was nervous.He sat up straighter, almost willing her his strength from where he sat, as her eyes cautiously scanned over the rows of anxious fighter pilots who were hanging on her every word.

“Goddamn,” Reno cursed behind him.“That’s our instructor?I won’t make it a week without having her on her back, yo.”

Cloud almost stood up and turned around to punch him in the face, but some force of divine intervention was lending him self control, and he squeezed his gloved fists tight at his side instead.

“I’m so honored and proud to be joining you in _Project Mighty Wings_ ,” Tifa told the crowd.“I have spent my career researching how man and machine can unite in the sky to form a more perfect union.My goal is to work with all of you to help you unlock your personal flying style and skills to connect you better with the aircrafts and the engines you command in the sky everyday.”

This line earned Tifa applause from the airmen, as well as some suggestive whistles that had Cloud wincing and stewing in his seat.

Tifa was brief.She ended her comments with a smile and a nod to Rufus, and Cloud slid down a little in his seat, biting his lip as he watched her step away from the podium, gracefully descending the platform and returning to her seat.

Rufus spoke for a while longer, at one point giving the microphone to Heideggar, but Cloud wasn’t listening at all.From his seat, he watched Tifa’s every movement until they were dismissed, and then he watched her hips sway as she walked off in the opposite direction with the drunk girlfriend from Friday night.

Zack was clipping him in the shoulder.“Strife!”

Cloud shook his head and stood up.The President and his company had already made their way back to the chopper, its blades slicing through the air as it made its ascent to depart.His comrades were filing away around him.

“Dude, you’re completely in the clouds again,”Zack was saying, shaking his head at him, both hands on his hips.Cloud rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck.Zack nodded to where Tifa and her companion were disappearing inside of one of the glass buildings on base.“So that pretty young thing you were chasing after the other night - looks like you’ve got it hot for teacher.”

Cloud frowned, turning away from Zack as his cheeks began to heat up.“Knock it off,” he growled.

Zack just laughed out loud in response, holding his belly.“Oh man, you’re in big trouble, my friend.You’re gonna have a rough time of it, for sure.”

Zack had no idea.

* * *

A few days after Rufus’ appearance, Tifa was sitting in her new office inside of the research building on base, thumbing through the roster of AVIATOR pilots she was assigned to work with.The pilots were beginning weekly mako showers as part of the enhancement process, the treatments being scaffolded over a few weeks’ time to allow them to adapt to the harsh mental and emotional side effects. Thankfully, her first group was small, allowing her to pay careful attention to each pilot’s needs as she worked with them.Her first lesson was that afternoon, and Tifa let her eyes fall on the name of the pilot on her roster.

Cloud Strife, call sign SPIKE.

Something about the name was oddly familiar, but she couldn’t place it no matter how hard she tried. Cid had put Cloud at the top of her list, and had come to see her personally about him.

“He’s not your typical AVIATOR,” Cid had said, standing over her desk with a lit cigarette that she’d had to ask him more than once to extinguish.“He’s got a goddamn mood problem.And he has difficulty following the chain of command, or orders.He’s a renegade in the sky.I’ve had to reel him in a few fucking times already.”

“So aren’t there any consequences for his actions?” Tifa’d asked plainly, raising her hand in the air with the query.

Cid had scoffed, folding his arms across his chest, pulling at the stubble on his chin with his gloved hand. “Sure, but the problem with Strife is, he’s too damn good a pilot. Better than good - the best one in the entire fleet.But don’t go tellin’ him that shit, please.His head’s too goddamn big as it is.”

“I promise,” Tifa chuckled, dropping her hand to her hip.“Anything else I should know about him?”

Cid slid a disc out of his pocket and placed it on her desk in front of her.“I encourage you to take a look at that footage from his last dogfight before you meet with him,” he told her, completely serious.“You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

So Tifa had taken the disc, and at present she was loading it into her laptop, waiting for the video feed to appear.She would be meeting with Strife in a little while, and she wanted to make sure the footage was fresh in her mind.

She sat back in her chair, crossing her arms under her breasts as the video player opened, displaying an image of a clear blue sky.She watched as four Corvettes appeared on screen, thunder from their engines rattling the image.They were cordoned off into pairs, one warplane carefully trailing the other’s wing.Tifa watched as the fighters engaged with a group of KiS aircraft that entered the dogfight suddenly, and her eyes widened as she watched one jet in particular veer off of its course, suddenly executing a series of wild maneuvers that resulted in the destruction of two enemy aircraft and the hasty retreat of a third.Blinking, Tifa opened the second file on the disc, a radar capture of the same scenario.It showed her a mapped version of how the Corvette’s maneuvers moved across the sky, relative to the other jets in the air.

She watched both videos a few more times, jotting some observations in her notebook.After a moment, she sat back and froze the video, staring at the renegade Corvette as it executed a rolling reversal, midstream.

 _That must be Strife_ , she thought to herself, worrying her bottom lip in stunned disbelief at his skill.

She glanced at her watch, realizing it was time to meet with him, and picked up her briefcase, leaving her office for the Training Center.

When Tifa arrived, she walked through the Training Center, her head high and her gaze forward, avoiding the sailors and aviators who stared at her lustfully as she passed through.She had anticipated this being a challenge when she arrived at base, but she honestly had not expected it to be so intense that it made her uncomfortable.

She would be meeting with her pilots in a small classroom on the lower level, where she could talk with them individually without much interruption, and she walked briskly to the elevator to take it down.The door was just closing behind her when a gloved hand interrupted it, forcing it open so a figure could step through.

_Him._

It was the handsome, scruffy-haired blonde that she’d run into at the officer’s party that weekend.The one who had taken her wrist and brought her a drink, making her heart pound.The one whose eyes were the deep blue color of the ocean.The one whose muscles were lean and defined under his uniform.The one she had not been able to stop thinking about anytime she had one unfocused minute.

He slid into the elevator, wearing a bomber jacket over his dark blue AVIATOR teeshirt.His blue eyes widened slightly at her as he stepped beside her.His gaze didn’t leave her face once he’d caught sight of her, and she looked away, her face growing hot.

“Oh, hey T- uh, Dr. Lockhart,” he spoke then, his voice cutting through the suddenly too thick air like a knife.Tifa was acutely aware of his presence, even his body heat, where he stood beside her.She frowned at his stammered mistake.Had he been about to call her by her first name?

“Can you press the button for the lower level, please?” he asked her.

Tifa leaned forward to do just that, and as her finger graced the button, a jarring realization rocked over her.As the elevator jolted and began its descent, Tifa finally turned to face him.

“Are you… are you Cloud Strife?” she asked, her voice a tentative, careful murmur.

He was suddenly wearing an easy, languid smirk, his hand on his right hip.“That I am,” he told her cooly.

Tifa felt her insides drop down to her feet.

They walked together in silence to the classroom they were meeting in on the lower level, Tifa’s mind frantically negotiating the situation she found herself in.Mentally, she cursed Jessie for allowing her to drag her to that party.It had careened out of control and she found herself so frantically attracted to her first student that she was sweating, it was completely ridiculous and she needed to find a solution, and fast.

Tifa approached the classroom and opened the door carefully, cutting on the lights.She was acutely aware of her every action as she moved, overanalyzing each step that she took as she placed her briefcase carefully on a pupil desk in the center of the room.Her heart was thundering in her ears, so loud that she just knew he could hear it.

Cloud came into the room and closed the door carefully behind him. He stood in front of it, watching her intently with his arms crossed over his chest as she carefully opened her briefcase, sliding her laptop out. 

Tifa glanced up at him.Why was he just standing there like that?She felt like she was suddenly suffocating under the weight of his stare.She inhaled a gulp of air carefully.

“You can come have a seat,” she told him firmly.

Cloud was wearing the smirk again, she noted, and she tore her face away from the scrutiny of his gaze.She slid into the seat behind the desk she’d chosen, straightening her back as she opened her laptop, hoping desperately that she might convey a sense of professionalism.

Cloud crossed the room in a few long strides, choosing the desk right next to hers.Before he sat down, he dragged the desk closer to her, provoking a loud scrape across the floor.Tifa winced slightly at the intrusive sound, but then found her eyes growing wide as she realized how close he was suddenly sitting next to her.

Cloud closed the space between them even further by leaning forward on his desk.At this proximity, she could see the depths of his deep blue eyes, flecks of a hazy neon green rimming his pupil.She made a mental note that it appeared he’d already started his mako treatments.

“So, your name is Tifa, right?” He was saying to her.“Do you prefer I call you that, or Dr. Lockhart?”

Tifa swallowed, and the sound was loud in her ears.Something about the way his smooth baritone edged out her first name caused her to feel something between her legs.She bit down on the inside of her bottom lip, pressing her knees together under the desk.

“Dr. Lockhart is fine,” she responded carefully.

Mercifully, he leaned back in his seat, giving her more space to breathe.He uncrossed his arms and let them drop casually on the top of the desk, his stance in the chair suddenly open.Tifa tried not to read into the implications of his body language as she glanced back at the closed windows, thinking it was too hot in this classroom.

“I was looking forward to this,” Cloud tossed at her, his blue eyes scanning her face again.“They told us you’re gonna teach us to be better pilots, and help us with the mako treatments.”

Tifa was bewildered by his follow-up comment.“What do you mean by that?”

Cloud shrugged, his smirk tightening one corner of his lips.“Just, Cid was saying that it gets pretty intense.That it’s good to have someone to talk to, who isn’t dealing with it too.”

Tifa considered that for a moment, nodding her head.She let her gaze fall again to his eyes, considering the new, very slight verdant rim around his pupil.“…How was your first treatment?”

For the first time, he averted his gaze, dropping it to look at the desk.“It was… I got through it.All good.”

As the air shifted cool between them, she detected that he left quite a bit unsaid, ironic given the fact that he had just expressed the desire to talk to her about the experience.Once again, she realized this man was a walking set of contradictions and conflicts.

Deciding to change the topic, Tifa clicked around on her laptop’s screen, bringing up Cloud’s file. She skimmed some of the basic information, then opened up the video file Cid had given her.

“Okay.So, Lieutenant Strife -“

“Please,” he waved a hand in the air between them.“Just Cloud.”

Tifa frowned behind her screen slightly, finding that far too informal for their state of affairs, especially since she had just asked him to refer to her by her full title.But the intensity in his eyes suggested it wasn’t up for debate, so she let it drop.

“Okay… Cloud.”She was glancing back at the video file of his earlier theatrics in the sky.Before bringing it up, she decided to start by getting to know him a little better.As a pilot, she hastily reminded herself.

_Stay professional._

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself?Why did you become a pilot?”

Cloud was rubbing the back of his neck again, much the way he had that night at the bar.Whenever he did this, Tifa thought he looked particularly boyish, in a way that made her neck flare with heat.

“I used to love watching the airships and planes when I was a kid,” he answered her softly, leaning back in his chair again.He offered her a small shrug.“The first time I rode in an airship, I knew it was all I wanted to do.”

Tifa offered him a full smile, and she could see that it disarmed him.“I had a very similar experience when I was young, which is why I decided to study aeronautics in university.”

Something unreadable passed through Cloud’s eyes when she said that, and Tifa let her smile falter a little as she tried to figure it out.

They sat there together for a while longer, Tifa asking Cloud careful questions about his career, his tours in Wutai with AVIATOR, and some of his other flying experiences.She informed him that she would be monitoring and evaluating all of his training flights over the next several weeks, and that she would meet with him at least twice a week to discuss her feedback with him, particularly concerning any changes she noted as a result of the mako enhancements.Eventually, Tifa turned the laptop towards Cloud and showed him the flight footage of his maneuvers from the prior week over northern Wutai.

“Can you tell me what you were thinking about when you executed that?” She asked him gently.

Cloud crossed his arms over his chest, and she watched his eyes flicker as he stared at the footage of his aircraft whipping and turning like mad in the sky.After a beat, he shrugged.

“I guess I really wasn’t,” he told her.“I just saw an opening and took it.”

Tifa chewed the inside of her lip, pausing the video with one hand, and picked up her pen with the other, gently tapping his Corvette where it was canopy to canopy on the screen with the Ueno combatjet.“This operation here - how did you manage that?I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

His mouth was turning up again into a slight smirk, encouraged by her compliment.“I can’t explain it, Tifa.It just comes naturally.”

She let it slide that he had referred to her by her first name again, although the familiar warmth was creeping between her thighs once more.

“What you did was very dangerous,” she informed him, but he only shrugged in response, the smug look on his face holding her eyes hostage.

Tifa pressed forward with a few additional questions before she glanced at her PHS, realizing it was almost time for her next appointment with another pilot. She slid the laptop closed.

“I think we are off to a good start,” she told him, letting her hands fall into her lap.“That will be all for today.I have another appointment soon.”

As Cloud stood up to leave, he let his eyes fall over her again. He stood there staring at her for a long moment, and finally, Tifa relented under the pressure of his ultramarine gaze.

“Is there something else?”

He was suddenly rubbing the back of his neck again, she realized.

“About the other night…”

_Oh shit.Here it comes._

“Can I take you out for a drink sometime?One that we can have together?”His voice was a low rumble, and somehow, she felt it vibrate in her chest.

Tifa closed her eyes for a brief moment, mentally trying to throw ice on all of the flames that were searing parts of her body.She opened them again and regarded him carefully, turning her head to one side.

“Cloud, I am the instructor here for this program, I’m also managing its research end.I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to -“

“Please?” he had stepped closer to her again.

Begging.She had not expected him to _beg_.Seeing the gentle pleading hidden in the blue depths of his irises, Tifa was suddenly completely turned on, and she folded her arms across her chest, concerned that her nipples might betray her right through her blouse.

She admitted to herself at that moment that it would not be possible for her to deny him.

“I… okay,” she conceded.She knew that her neck and her cheeks were bright, but there was nothing she could do about it as he continued to stare openly at her.

The imploring look faded from his eyes, replaced with one of triumph, as his mouth slid back into the most arrogant version of its smirk she had seen yet.“I’ll call you,” he told her, and then turned and left the room.

Tifa watched him leave, sucking in air once again finally.He was already gone when she realized that she had never even given him her number.

* * *

Cloud met with Tifa twice more after that initial meeting, and sometimes he saw her near the hangars when he was heading out for a training flight with Zack, no doubt there to watch the radar screens as he practiced his maneuvers.The knowledge that she was watching him, scrutinizing his moves while he was up in the sky, drew an uncomfortable tightness in his pants every time he squeezed into the cockpit.There was something undeniably sexy about having a woman that attractive evaluate your performance constantly, and Cloud found himself wanting to impress her every time he took to the heavens.

During their one-on-one sessions,Tifa was patient and deliberate.She was a really good teacher, Cloud realized.She asked him thoughtful questions, then presented him with honest but carefully worded feedback on what she had observed during his training or sim flights.He noticed that she took meticulous notes on her observations, and referred to them with precision whenever she reviewed them with him.

That she thought he handled himself too dangerously in the air, was the constant in her feedback.His skill was impeccable - she insisted she had never seen a pilot who could handle an F-80 quite the way he could - but she was concerned about his recklessness, his decision making that always seemed rash and off-script from her point of view.She encouraged him to consider more long-term strategy, and to work more thoughtfully with his comrades.Cloud considered her words and filed them away in memory, thinking that he would honestly try to do better if it meant that much to her.Cloud found that he liked pleasing her, and he had to work stringently on his self-control to keep from staring at her face or body too provocatively as all sorts of impure thoughts cramped themselves in his brain with other ways he could please her.

At the same time, Cloud, along with his fellow AVIATORs, was enduring weekly mako showers that would go on for the next six weeks.After each session, Cloud would count them down, eager for the final one so that he could be finally done with the entire arduous process. Being awash with mako was a mental and emotional experience, not a physical one.While he could feel the cool, crisp green liquid as it slid over his body, the torrents that it ripped through his brain were another matter altogether.They left him feeling confused and ransacked at the end of every session, and during the mandatory cool-down periods afterward, in which candidates were monitored by a physician for any signs of distress,Cloud would find himself rummaging through uncomfortable memories and invasive thoughts that he didn’t fully understand.The process would leave him in a terrible mood for the rest of the day, nonetheless, he endured.

All of this had gone on for the last week and a half, and he still had not called Tifa about that drink, the slip of paper with her phone number on it that Jessie had given him still sitting on his bedside table, staring at him teasingly. Tifa had not said a word about it during their last two meetings.

After asking her if he could take her out for a drink during their first, Cloud initially had every intention of calling her immediately to set up a date.But as he stared at the tiny slip of paper that evening, his thoughts began to descend into a maddening pool of anxiety.

Cloud had known Tifa for at least twenty years, and somehow, she didn’t remember him at all.It was painful, a devastating arrow shot through his heart every time he thought about it.Cloud and Tifa had both grown up in Nibelheim - and although they hadn’t been close, rarely spoke, in fact - Cloud had had a crush on her for as long as he could remember.He had pined for her from afar, watching her while she would play with her friends, a group of boys in the village that Cloud did not get along with at all.While she was nice enough, she never paid Cloud any attention, other than maybe a friendly wave when she would pass him and his mother in the supermarket by chance, or sometimes in the hallways at school.He couldn’t remember how many words he’d actually exchanged with her over the course of their lifetimes.And then at fourteen, Cloud left Nibelheim to join AVIATOR, and he hadn’t seen her again, ever.

And now here she was on this naval base, his personal instructor, and they’d met three times already (four including that incident at the party) and she clearly did not remember him at all, had absolutely no idea who he was.

 _How could that be?_ Cloud agonized, sitting on the edge of his bed in his apartment on base, staring at the slip of paper Jessie’d given him.A chain was wrapping itself tight around his heart, squeezing until he thought it might splinter into a dozen pieces. Cloud was in complete dismay at the fact that he was that utterly unmemorable, and the more he thought about it, the more he lost his nerve to call her.It filled him with shame, and how would he even confront her about it without making her uncomfortable or embarrassed, or making him sound like a complete loser?

_What a fucking mess._

Cloud’s PHS was ringing next to him on the bed.He glanced down at it, seeing Zack’s name light up the display.Sighing, Cloud slid his finger across the screen, accepting the call and placing it on speaker.

“What’s up, Zack.”

“Cloud!”Zack’s voice was bright and loud.“What’s up, man?How you hangin’ in there?”

Cloud shrugged, staring at his boots.“I’m alright, I guess.”

Zack laughed richly through the device.“Ah, I get it.This mako bullshit is pretty intense, isn’t it?Good thing we’ve got a good instructor in Dr. Lockhart, am I right?”

Cloud seethed, refusing to respond and glad that Zack wasn’t physically there to see the look on his face or the heat that was creeping up his collar.

“Speaking of,” Zack continued without mercy, “Did you call her yet?When are you going to take her out?”

“I don’t know,” Cloud answered brusquely.

Zack made a clicking sound.“Give me a break!Are you telling me you asked her out, and then never called her?Are you serious right now?”

“Zack…”

“No, Cloud.You listen to me.You’re being an idiot again, and I’m not going to sit here and watch you sabotage yourself.You said she agreed to the date, right?How do you think she feels that you’ve let almost two weeks pass without calling her?She must be in pure disbelief staring at your stupid face during your sessions.”

“You don’t understand -“

“Oh, I understand perfectly well,” Zack was barking.“You can’t avoid making an ass of yourself, I get it.But no more.You are going to hang up this PHS right now and call her and you are taking her out _tonight._ And then you are going to call me right back and tell me word for word what she said.Got it?Good.”

“I just -“

“Call her now.Bye, Cloud.”

Zack disconnected the PHS and the screen faded away to black again.Cloud stared at the device dumbfounded, then glanced at the slip of paper on the bedside.

 _Fuck_.

He picked up the note, sliding it between his gloved fingers as he stared at it, trying to premeditate how he would execute this call without making a fool of himself.For a brief moment, he wondered if he should just ignore Zack and not even bother.But then Tifa’s deep claret eyes were filtering through his vision again, the soft angle of her cheek, the pout of her bottom lip, the way her perfectly manicured hands slid up to tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her ear as her tiny silver teardrop earring dangled precariously by the line of her throat.

Cloud swallowed, and punched her number into the PHS.

The line rang twice before he heard a click and she answered, her voice raspy but sweet, a slow drip of honey through the receiver.

“Hello, this is Dr. Tifa Lockheart,” she was saying, and Cloud felt something inside of him melt into a puddle.Maybe it was one of his internal organs.

“Tifa - this is Cloud,” he said quickly, needing to get it all out before he lost his resolve.“I uh - about that drink. I wanted to see if you were free tonight.”

There was a pause after he finished speaking.Cloud stopped breathing.

Finally, she responded.“Oh - I, hi, Cloud.Um - “ another pause, and Cloud was suddenly rubbing his free hand up and down his knee in a burst of nervous energy.“I - yes, I’m free tonight.”

Cloud exhaled the pocket of air he had been holding in his chest.“I’ll pick you up at eight.Where are you staying?”

“I’m in building B.”

“See you then.”

Cloud disconnected the PHS in a hurry, before something terrible could happen and ruin the moment.Dropping the device on the bed, he stared at it until a grin was tearing at the sides of his face.Feeling a wash of victory slide over him, Cloud reached for the device again to call Zack.

Later that night, Cloud left his apartment, dressed in a simple gray cotton henley and a pair of dark jeans, his bomber jacket cutting across his shoulders.It was a crisp summer night, gentle breezes from the ocean washing over the base and keeping it relatively cool for mid-July.He rode his motorcycle, Fenrir, through the narrow streets on base, bringing him to a building on the northwestern side of the installation.It was a housing complex that usually sheltered commanding officers of higher rank, or Shinra officials who were visiting on some kind of duty.It was a nicer venue than the apartments that most of the active-duty sailors and airmen lived in.

Cloud sent her PHS a text to let her know that he had arrived, not in the mood to walk into the complex and chance a run-in with one of his superiors. She responded quickly that she was on her way, and Cloud waited in the moonlight in front of the building for her to arrive.

When she finally appeared, emerging from the glass front doors of the complex, carefully making her way down the steps, Cloud felt his heart rate accelerate. She was dressed completely different from her usual professional style of suits and blouses and heels, and he almost felt like he was staring at a different person, a gorgeous and hot and sexy and _fucking beautiful_ one.

She was wearing a dark gray dress that was tied with a halter enclosure around her neck, pushing her breasts up just enough that Cloud could make out their fullness as they pressed against the fabric.The dress was made of some kind of stretchy knit material, and it clung to her every curve, the hem of her skirt stopping midthigh.Her arms were covered by a dusty blue denim jacket that stopped just under her breasts, allowing the flowing line of her waist to be well defined and appear even longer than he had already committed to memory. Her legs were wrapped in dark nylons again, but this time he realized with a delayed fascination that they stopped midthigh, exposing just a hint of flesh beneath the skirt of her dress. 

_Fucking thigh highs._

_What the fuck was she doing?_

Cloud scrambled to reorient himself enough so that he could properly drive them to their destination.She approached him cautiously, holding on to her yellow purse, the heels of her silver platform heels clicking against the asphalt. As she approached him, he felt himself suddenly enveloped in the sugary fragrance of vanilla and honeysuckle that glided off of her skin.

She offered him a tiny smile, looking nervously at him and the bike he was leaning against.Cloud gave her his usual smirk, then nodded his appreciation at her.

“Hey,” he greeted, keeping his voice low, trying to suppress the giddy excitement seeing her was pushing up in his throat.“Looks like we match.”He thumbed at his collar, indicating the gray shirt he wore under his jacket.

He saw her blush slightly at that, and his own neck grew hot.

“Quite the coincidence,” she finally replied.She glanced at his motorcycle.“I forgot you owned a bike.”

Cloud held his hand out to her.“I’ll keep you safe,” he promised, and watched her, waiting for her to join him.

He saw her eyes flicker with something as she considered, but within the next moment, she was crossing over to him, placing her hand in his gloved one.After helping her climb onto Fenrir, trying not to stare as she held her skirt in place to swing her leg over the seat, Cloud climbed on in front of her.He felt her soft breasts press against his back as she leaned forward, and he reached down to clasp her hands together where they rested against his abdomen.

“Hold on tight,” he told her, and with her warmth seeping into him, he peeled away from the curb.

* * *

Tifa felt her hair whipping around her as Cloud drove them through the naval base’s narrow roads, realizing that this was her first time on a motorcycle.She kept her face pressed against his back, his warmth emanating into her as he drove with capable confidence, somewhat quelling the absolute terror that was running through her.

Cloud brought Tifa to a small bar and grill on the other side of the base, a long strip where there were numerous options for entertainment and leisure for sailors and their civilian families or companions living on base.Tifa was concerned that they might be seen by a superior or another pilot with a big mouth, but Cloud had calmly informed her that there was no law that prohibited them from having a casual drink together.

It was a Friday night, so the crowd was relatively thick, but the place Cloud had chosen had a small capacity, so thankfully there were only so many other sailors and pilots there with their dates, and none of them looked familiar to Tifa. The interior was dark, illuminated by blue and white lighting, the furniture simple wood and the decor contemporary with obscure pieces of art. Cloud led her to a booth in the back, near a window, the bright mako street lights outside shining in on their table.

Cloud’s eyes followed her whenever she moved, and he was finding every excuse imaginable to touch her.As she had slid off of his motorcycle, he was standing directly in front of her, taking her hand and holding her forearm to steady her. When they walked inside the bar, he was a pace behind her, his hand pressed to the small of her back, sending an electrified jolt of warmth through her entire body. Now, as she was lowering herself into the booth, he was standing right beside her, the azure recesses of his eyes watching her until she was comfortably seated, before he moved to slide across from her.

Something about his proximity, about the look in his eyes, about the light pressure that hovered beneath every touch, made Tifa feel that he was oddly… protective, in some way.

“So, do you want to eat?Or just have a drink?”

Tifa worried her bottom lip, glancing at the menu on the table.“I could go for something light,” she replied.

“Anything for you, Tifa,” he ventured, and something about the way he said that, about the smooth way that her name rolled off of his lips, had a familiar heat unfurling in her belly, rolling downward between her thighs.She felt her cheeks grow warm, and she lowered her head to look more closely at the menu to distract herself.

“Oh!Would you like to share an appetizer platter?” she asked him, and he nodded, his eyes never leaving her face.

Over the course of the next couple of hours, Tifa found herself enjoying Cloud’s company immensely as they sat across from each in the dark corner of the bar, sharing chicken wings and mozzarella sticks and nachos from the platter, sipping first on beer, before boldly graduating to whisky.Their conversation was easy and unguarded, Cloud telling her about the things he liked to do when he wasn’t flying - tuning or cleaning Fenrir (she laughed at the fact that he had named his bike), adding to his impressive sword collection, or helping his AVIATOR comrade Biggs upgrade their weapons together.He talked about how long he had known Zack and about his wife Aerith, whose personality was as bright as the morning sky and who he thought Tifa would love.Tifa couldn’t wait to meet her. 

Tifa shared her own hobbies, her love of music and how she had played the piano since she was a child, a talent she inherited from her mother.As she spoke, she could see how Cloud hung on her every word, leaning forward with his elbows in an open stance on the table as he absorbed everything she told him, his eyes drinking her in. Tifa didn’t share with Cloud how her mother had died when she was young, or the terrible ropeway accident that had killed her father and left her in a coma for a week, skipping over that part entirely to inform him of the little known fact that she was a black belt in Zangan-Ryu.To this, Cloud’s eyes widened and he sat back a little again.

“Wow,” he breathed out a little puff of air.“I’d like to see your moves.”

“Maybe you will, sometime,” she quipped back at him, and as soon as the words escaped her lips, she realized how incredibly suggestive she’d sounded, the heat blooming across intimate parts of her body again.Cloud just stared at her, the smirk playing at his lips again, his blue eyes radiating a feral desire that made her acutely aware of the dampness seeping between her legs.

Eventually, it had grown late, and Cloud called for the check, paying the tab before offering Tifa his arm as she slid out of the booth.The good food and the alcohol had left her feeling giddy and warm, and she was less guarded about her increasing attraction to this man, leaning against him and clutching his muscular arm to her as if he were hers.

As they approached Fenrir,Cloud took Tifa’s hand in his.She glanced up at him, and suddenly he had that boyishly hopeful look on his face again.She felt the cool leather of his gloves as his thumbs began to rub circles over the back of her hand, gently caressing her knuckles and the delicate bones connected to them.

“Can I take you somewhere, before I drop you off?” he asked her, his voice low, a decibel above a whisper.

“Of course,” she answered without thinking about it at all.

She let him drive her a short distance to the edge of the base, near the coastline, where the warships docked.Instantly, Tifa was fascinated by the sight of the massive ships that hugged the docks, the deep blue of the ocean gently slapping against their hulls and starboards as the waves tugged the water toward the shore.Climbing off of the bike, Tifa let Cloud gently take her wrist and lead her over to one side of the dock that was unobstructed by any naval vessels, and offered a clear, expansive view of the entire ocean, the moon and starlight hanging bright overhead in the night sky.Tifa could see outcroppings of grass and rock rimming the sandy beach of the coastline, littered with patchworks of brightly colored flowers that Tifa had not noticed growing anywhere else.

Cloud was standing so close to her that she could smell the faint cedar in his cologne; she could hear his breath every time he expelled it.She braced herself against the railing of the dock in front of her, letting her eyes drink in the beauty of the ocean and the flowers and warships standing sentinel off to the side.

“This is beautiful, Cloud,” Tifa sang to him breathlessly.

“Aerith, Zack’s wife, is actually the one who found this place,”Cloud responded.“She’s a florist.She was disappointed with the lack of flowers here on base, I guess, and wouldn’t rest until she found some, anywhere she could find them.Now, she tends to them to make sure they stay alive, and even more have grown here since she started.She and Zack brought me out here once, and after that, it’s been one of my favorite places to come to clear my head.”

“That’s very sweet,” Tifa responded at his suddenly open vulnerability, bobbing her head happily. “It certainly seems like she knows her stuff.Those flowers are lovely.”

At that, Cloud was moving away from her.Tifa watched, puzzled, as he began to climb over the railing of the dock, sliding carefully onto the sand below.

“Cloud?” She called out to him, watching as he dredged his boots through the sand, moving closer to the shoreline and the outcroppings of rocks.“What are you doing?”

“Just give me a minute.”

She watched him awkwardly trek through the uneven sand until he reached a grassy patch over some rocks that were teeming with flowers.She squinted as he hovered over a swath of pink and white blooms, picking one carefully before he turned and made his way back to where she stood on the dock.

After he’d climbed back up, Tifa saw that the glow in his eyes had intensified. Cloud was suddenly moving behind her, and she could feel his warmth wrap around her as he stood behind her, caging her between his arms as his hands took hold of the railing on either side of her. The front of his body was just barely touching the back of hers, but she could feel him there nonetheless.She could hear him breathing next to her ear, and her heart was doing somersaults in the cavity of her chest.

He lifted one hand up, holding the flower up in front of her face.It was a stargazer lily, with snowy white petals that were almost completely dusted with a bright pink spattering of color.Her eyes widened as he held it up in front of her, and then he was bending his face closer to her ear.

“Lovers would give these to one another when they were reunited,” he whispered, low and rumbly.Tifa forgot how to breathe.

He brought his hand back to the side of her face, his fingers gently brushing her hair to the side as he placed the lily in her hair, just above her ear.Once it was situated there, he dropped his hand, letting his fingers ghost down her shoulder and upper arm.

“Tifa,” his voice was that low rumble again, provoking something in the back of her memory the way he called her name, warming her entire body.“Turn around.”

Slowly, Tifa closed her eyes and did as he asked.When she turned to face him, she opened her eyes to see him staring at her with heedless longing.

“Can I kiss you?”

_Fuck yes._

She nodded slowly, and then the leather wrapped around his palm was at her cheek, rough and smooth and cool and firm and emanating the heat from his fingers beneath.He tilted her head gently, his blue eyes sending flares into her soul, and she closed her eyes to shield them from his gaze, just as he lowered his lips to hers.

His mouth was warm, his lips were a little rough, and his kiss was soft, so soft that she was afraid he was melting her into a puddle right there at his feet.She felt his free hand come around to gently loop her waist and pull her closer to him, giving her something to steady and rock against as he gently unwrapped her with his mouth. 

Tifa let her mouth fall open as he applied more pressure to her lips with his, and sensing them open, his tongue was gently prodding inside of her mouth, finding hers and wrapping around it, pushing against it with a force that was somehow both electrifying and sweet.Tifa could feel her entire body awaken as he kissed her, everything becoming sensitive and yearning, wanting to feel his hands and his mouth and whatever else he had to offer all over her.

Their kiss deepened and continued, with Tifa looping her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her as she let herself relent and become completely open to him.Feeling her accept him so fully, Cloud’s kisses became fervent and chaotic, his tongue clashing with hers, discovering her teeth, his own biting her lips and bruising them, his fingers curling in the dark threads of her hair.

Long moments later, Cloud finally came up for air, and Tifa found herself falling backward, feeling like she was losing herself, her entire grip on reality without him melded to her, kissing her senseless.He brought his thumb up to her bottom lip, caressing it gently, the leather smooth against her flesh.“You have a beautiful mouth,” he complimented her, wearing his easy smirk again, and she wanted to jump him and wrap her legs around his waist and never let him go.

“It’s getting late,” he said finally, pulling back from her a little. “I should get you home.”

So Tifa let him take her home, her body on fire as the wind whipped her hair while he hugged the curves in the road with his bike, and as she clung to his back as he drove, she realized she needed this man, who felt like _home_ , more than she needed air.

* * *

Cloud and Tifa began to see each other frequently outside of Cloud’s training sessions that summer.Cloud would take her to different entertainment venues on base, or sometimes they would just spend time outside, staring at the ocean as they slid into easy conversation as if they had known each other for years and not weeks.They tried to hide their courtship from their colleagues, but life on a naval base was a small one, and it was a difficult secret to keep.Zack and Aerith were the only ones who were officially aware, but eventually, the rumor had spread that Cloud was making puppy eyes at the instructor.Fortunately, Captain Cid was completely disinterested in their cavorting, and dismissed any talk of it.For their sakes, this mercifully kept the news from drifting any higher up the food chain.

Cloud and Tifa also could not keep their hands off of one another; physical touch was a drug between them and they were a pair of addicts.Every time they met, they found time to envelop one another in their arms, lips joined together seeking the magic of that first kiss once again.And they found it every time.They would press together until it was too much to take, and then they would break apart again, trying to gather their senses.Cloud always tried his hardest to remain respectful, and he never pushed her beyond that, despite how badly he wanted to completely ravish her.

He also finally was through with the mako treatments, and his mood had improved a great deal as a result. The enhancements had given him sharper focus in the sky, improved agility with the throttle, and an even greater capacity for multitasking and tactical thinking as he pierced through clouds during training missions.Tifa pointed out the refinement in his skill that she was noticing, offering him her suggestions on ways he could become even more fluid.

She always noticed, and she always cared about what he did and what was important to him.

Cloud was packing his duffle bag after another training flight, his thoughts of Tifa turning around in his head.He could not get her off of his mind, he had come to accept.But there was something that was still bothering him deeply, a persistent, ugly thought that continued to nag at him deep in the back of his brain, poisoning every moment he spent with her.

_She still doesn’t remember._

Cloud did not know how it could be possible.Sure, they had never been close or even really friends, but he had been fourteen when he left Nibelheim.That was just over ten years ago.Surely, her memory couldn’t be _that_ bad.Or was he truly that forgettable? It tore him apart to think so.It was the reason he hadn’t tried to start having sex with her, even though he was desperate to make love to her.He felt like he was holding this huge, unforgivable secret between them, and if he brought it to bed with them, it might shatter everything. 

He hadn’t mustered the courage or stumbled upon the right time or place to bring it up and confront her about it.He was terrified that as soon as he mentioned it, everything between them would be ruined.

He was turning over his predicament as he walked through the hallways of the Training Center when Zack caught up to him with a few long strides.

“SPIKE!” His best friend called, joining him at his side, clapping his hand on his shoulder.“How’d your sesh go today?”

“It was a good flight,” Cloud rejoined with a shrug. “How about you?”

“Just another day in the bird,” was Zack’s reply.“But listen, I’ve had enough, this week has been a gruelfest. Aerith wants to take a day trip to Rocket Town to see some of the sights and do some shopping.She really wants to meet Tifa.You think you two are up to joining us?”

Cloud considered this for a moment.He hadn’t been off base in more than half a year, and the idea of taking Tifa out with a fresh change of scenery was appealing.Maybe he could finally talk to her about their childhood in Nibelheim.

“I’ll ask her,” Cloud agreed, and Zack let out a cheer with a pump of his fist into the air.

That weekend, Cloud, Tifa, Zack, and Aerith met early Saturday morning outside of Cloud and Zack’s apartment complex.Aerith had left the twins with their usual babysitter, but it hadn’t stopped her from worrying.

“Oh dear - Zack, did you remember to leave all of the emergency phone numbers in the kitchen by the phone?I can’t believe I forgot to check.”

“Everything’s fine, babe,” Zack soothed, guiding her by her shoulders to his motorcycle, the Hardy Daytona, which was parked next to Cloud’s Fenrir.“You know Folia is great with them.If she needs anything, she’ll call us.But I doubt it.”

Aerith let out a little sigh, turning to him with a smile so bright it rivaled the sun that was beating down on them from above. She clasped her hands in front of the skirt of the flowing yellow and pink sundress she was wearing.“Gosh, you’re right.I always do this, don’t I?”

“And I couldn’t love you anymore for it,” Zack gushed, bending down to kiss her forehead, and Cloud smirked at their blubbering adoration.

Next to him, Tifa smiled with amusement at Aerith and Zack.It was a hot day, and she was dressed in a sleeveless white tank top with denim shorts that hugged her hips snugly, glued tight around her curves like gift wrap.Cloud had to stop himself numerous times from imagining the ways he would unwrap her like the first gift on Yulefest morning.

“Everybody got their weapons, just in case we run into any monsters on the road?”

Cloud nodded, his Fusion swords safely tucked in their compartments on Fenrir.To his right, he saw Tifa lift up a pair of leather fighting gloves, giving them a little wave before she tucked them back inside the pocket of her shorts.Cloud licked his lips, suddenly, it had grown even hotter out here.

“I’ve got my staff,” Aerith affirmed.

“Great,” Zack said, slapping the broad sword that was clipped to the side of his bike.“Alright, let’s go.”

The four of them made their way, Cloud and Zack pushing the engines of their motorcycles to their limits as they wove through the highways that led off base.In order to reach the mainland continent by land, they would have to take a long underwater tunnel that would bring them to the Western Continent.From there, they could pick up the highways towards Rocket Town.

The ride was a long one, hence their early departure time, but Cloud didn’t mind it. Even though it was a hot day, he reveled in the heat of Tifa’s body pressed flush against his back, the power in her arms as she held onto his body steady as they cruised at breakneck speed.Her presence there was at once the most calming and disarming feeling, seeping through his jacket into his skin and deep into his flesh and bones.

As they drove in the darkness of the underground tunnel, Cloud turned over thoughts of how he would deal with the devastating truth that still sat unchallenged between him and Tifa.If he brought it up today, how would she react?Would she feel embarrassed?Angry?Would she still not remember?All of these options seemed terrible.Cloud tried to figure out ways that he could present it that would not result in any of these scenarios.It did not seem possible.

Within an hour or so, they had made it to Rocket Town, and blessedly had not encountered any monsters on their route.Aerith could not contain her excitement, and Cloud had to admit that she was infecting everyone else.

“So where are we starting?Oh, I want to check out the shops.And the Rocket.Wait, I think we should let Tifa choose - she is the newest addition to our merry little band, isn’t she?”Aerith had sidled up to Tifa then, wrapping her arm with hers.“What do you want to do, Tifa?”

Tifa blushed slightly at Aerith’s warm affection, and Cloud’s brain was spinning at how cute she looked.“Oh, I - anything really.This place is so amazing.I have come here for work a few times, but I haven’t been able to really enjoy it like a tourist, probably since I was a kid.”

Cloud looked down at his boots, busying himself with toeing Fenrir’s kickstand.

“The shops can wait,” Zack decided, taking Aerith’s wrist and pulling her away from Tifa.“Let’s start with the Rocket.”

“Why do you get to decide!” Aerith was outraged.

Cloud caught Tifa giggling quietly to herself at Aerith and Zack as they bantered back and forth as they made their way through town, and he carefully slid his hand under hers, interlocking their fingers.

“You’re gonna be tired of them by noon,” he predicted, and Tifa rewarded him with a rich laugh, the same one she had given him when they had first met at the officer’s party, when he’d dropped on her the worst pickup line he could think of.

“Maybe,” Tifa told him, and he loved the joy in her eyes.

Rocket Town was truly a unique and awe-inspiring place.Although it was famous for the abandoned Shinra-26 space Rocket, the city was really a sprawling enclave of aviation history and triumphs.Airships and planes soured overhead, and everywhere they looked was another hangar or installation facility that manufactured the winged machines that graced the sky.Cloud felt like a kid again as they walked through the city, and watched as Tifa’s eyes lit up with fascination every time she had the opportunity to stop and admire another piece of aircraft during their tour.

The minutes faded away into hours, Cloud and Tifa following Aerith’s and Zack’s leads as they visited the failed Rocket, the Shinra Aerospace Museum, and some of the hangars that held idling commercial aircraft.All of it was astounding, overwhelming even, to witness.Cloud kept peering at Tifa as they moved through the day, and seeing her blissfully share his passion for the sky and for flying had made his heart fill near to bursting with warmth.

Cloud realized that afternoon that he was in love with her.He had always been in love with her.

It was late in the afternoon when they finally made it to the shops after Aerith’s relentless harassment.The guys had hung back while Aerith and Tifa browsed, the two women getting some much needed bonding time, while Zack stretched his limbs and Cloud found a bench to sit on, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering again how he was going to approach Tifa.

Zack detected his brooding and immediately frowned, dropping next to him on the bench.“Why are you scowling?” he demanded, looking Cloud right in the face.“I know it’s annoying when they do this, but you learn to get used to it.We’ve been having a great time, man.”

“It’s not that, Cloud responded, shaking his head, his eyes fixated on his boots.“It’s just… I don’t know, Tifa -“ he let his voice drop.

Zack sat back and folded his arms across his chest.“Oh, no you don’t.Spit it out.”

Cloud sighed, his head hanging even more.“I - Zack, this is really bad.”After a long pause, he sat up straighter and looked at Zack.“I - I grew up with Tifa.In Nibelheim.I knew her a really long time ago.And - I - I don’t think she remembers. _At all_.”

Zack’s eyebrows shot up impressively.“She doesn’t remember?What the fuck does that evenmean, Cloud?”

Cloud blew out a puff of air, turning away from Zack and staring straight ahead.“It means, she doesn’t remember me from back then.If she does, she hasn’t said anything.She just acts like this is the first time she’s met me.”

“Well, did you ask her about it?” Zack was near to shouting, completely incredulous.

“Lower your voice,” Cloud complained, looking around.“Listen - no. I didn’t.I tried but - it just seemed so stupid.And now I don’t know what to do about it.And what’s worse - Ithink I’m in love with her.”

Zack was shaking his head, looking at Cloud like he was a complete idiot.“I don’t believe I’m even hearing this.Listen.There’s got to be a good reason that she doesn’t remember.Maybe she just needs a trigger or something, geez, I don’t know.She hit her head or something?But you’ve got to talk to her about it. What if she remembers on her own and then realizes you were dating her for all this time without saying anything?What do you think she’ll think of you _then_?”

Cloud lowered his head into his hands, groaning out loud.

Zack continued to shake his head.“I hope you take care of this tonight.You better be glad Aerith didn’t hear about this.She would knock you senseless.”

Not disputing that, Cloud just continued to grip his forehead in his hands, trying to figure out how he was going to make this right without isolating Tifa or completely disgusting her.

After the girls returned with their parcels, Tifa having purchased some airship-themed jewelryand Aerith’s arms loaded with trinkets and gifts for the twins, the couples decided to make dinner the last stop of the evening before they returned to base.The entire time they sat in the small rocket-themed cafe, Zack stared at Cloud knowingly as they chowed down on a greasy meal of burgers and fries.Cloud averted his stare, grateful that Aerith talked incessantly the entire time, roping Tifa into her conversation until the pair of them sounded as if they had been best friends for decades.It kept any attention from drifting to him, though Zack did not cease to silently chastise him with his murky blue eyes from across the table.

After the dinner, they loaded the bikes with their wares and made back to base, the sunset kissing the horizon as it lowered in the sky, leaving streamers of pink and orange in its wake.As Cloud pushed Fenrir on the open road, Tifa nestled tightly and peacefully against his back, Cloud steeled his resolve, Zack’s words playing on repeat in his brain.

He would tell her tonight.

* * *

It was just after seven that evening when Cloud’s motorcycle rolled up behind Zack’s in front of their base apartment complex, and Tifa lifted her head gently from where it lay comfortably against Cloud’s shoulder. Feeling tired and content from the full day with Cloud and his friends - now feeling more and more like her friends, too - Tifa was almost sad that the day was coming to an end.

She watched as Zack and Aerith climbed off of Zack’s bike.In the space of a moment, Aerith was crossing over to where Tifa sat behind Cloud on Fenrir.Soon, her arms were around Tifa’s neck.

“Oh Tifa, I’m so glad I finally met you.You don’t know how happy Cloud has been since you’ve been with him!And now I see why.”

Cloud turned away to face forward again, and Tifa just knew he was blushing.

“I’m really glad we got to hang out today too, Aerith,” Tifa replied, offering the girl a smile.

“We’ll have to spend some time together without these two,” Aerith pledged, and Tifa felt a billow of warmth run through her as Aerith pressed a kiss to her cheek.

It was Tifa’s turn to blush.

“Alright, you two!Cloud, take care of her, or you’ll have to deal with me!” With that, Aerith was off in a flurry, running to catch up with Zack.

“We’ll see you guys later,” Zack told them, nodding his head at Cloud, before the pair turned and disappeared inside the complex.

“They are fun,” Tifa commented, earning a shrug from Cloud.

Cloud turned to her then.“Hey.Have you ever actually flown in one of the Corvettes before?”

Tifa raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change of subject.Although she had spent her career studying these planes, she had never actually been inside of one, up in the open air.Civilians were just in general not permitted inside of military aircraft.

“No, Cloud.I haven’t.Why do you ask?”

The harshest version of his smirk was suddenly on his face, and Tifa watched, her heart in her throat, as Cloud turned away, revving the engines of his bike with a twist of his wrists.

“Come on.”

He brought her across the base to the hangars that were situated off of the Training Center, joined to a long runway.Tifa was familiar with the location, she frequented it daily when she was observing the pilots during their training flights.But the way that Cloud was driving was making her feel oddly suspicious about what he was planning.

When they arrived, Cloud parked the bike and led her to the hangar.

“Cloud, what are we -“

“Just follow my lead.”

She followed him inside the hangar, where it was quiet thanks to the late hour.Inside, Wedge was on duty, flipping through a magazine and listening to his earbuds where he sat behind a desk.

“Wedge,” Cloud called over.“I need to do a quick training run.I’ll be up in the air and back down in no time.”He thumbed over his shoulder to Tifa.“Dr. Lockhart is here, it’s part of my training.” 

Tifa gaped at him.

Wedge sat up straighter, wrinkling his brow at Cloud, but ultimately deciding not to question.“A- alright.Does the Captain know you’re-“

Cloud waved him off.“It’s fine.It won’t take long.I’ll need a two-seater.”

Wedge’s eyebrows flew up.“You’re taking her up there?I don’t think we have clearance for - “

“She’s my instructor for god sakes, Wedge.”

Wedge hesitated for a moment, tearing his gaze back and forth between Cloud and Tifa, before he ultimately relented.“Fine,” he said to them.“You can take the one in hangar B.I’ll man the runway.”

Cloud nodded, and was soon pulling on Tifa’s wrist again.She found herself getting swept up in his whirlwind again, his brash, sudden decisions and raging emotions that ebbed and flowed like tides and crashed into her where she tried to stand steady on the shores of reason and reality.

Before she knew it, she was letting Cloud fit her with a goggle and helmet, and he was helping her climb a ladder up to the second seat of an F-80 Corvette, it’s sleek silver body glinting under the fluorescent lighting of the hangar.Her heart began to pound in her chest as she realized what was happening, Cloud leaning over her as she slid into the seat, making sure she was securely strapped in.

“Tifa - you always watch me from the ground,” he told her, his voice deep and gritty, raking over her soul.“Tonight, I want you with me, to _feel_ me.”

The look on his face was pure sex and Tifa felt her underwear began to soak as she sank back against the leather seat of the cockpit.

Before she knew it, Cloud had dropped into the seat in front of her, his helmet pulled over his spikes, and he was bringing the jet’s engines to life.

“Hold on tight,” he shouted over his shoulder, and soon, they were moving.

Tifa didn’t know how long she held her breath, or when was the exact moment that she stopped breathing.She only knew that at some point, as Cloud climbed the Corvette into the air, all of the oxygen had left her blood.

The sounds of the jet’s engines were deafening as they careened in the sky, and from her perspective, all Tifa could do was carefully raise her eyes towards the jet’s canopy, looking out at the heavens above as Cloud began to increase his altitude and maneuver through the night.Above and around her, endless midnight blue, littered with the puffs of wispy clouds, was an all-encompassing presence, her body losing its sense of connection with reality as Cloud began to tilt and swirl, guiding the jet through smoothly executed displacement rolls, curved pursuits, and graceful wingovers, the airfoil rattling as he moved.Tifa committed each movement he pulled them through to memory, convinced now more than ever that Cloud Strife was the best fighter pilot to probably ever live.She closed her eyes then, letting the vibrations of the jet’s engines and their blaring, powerful roars tear through every nerve in her body, adrenaline working like poison in her blood, Cloud carrying her through a wild dance in the air.

Before she knew it, she could hear Cloud communicating with Wedge via the radio, clearing them to land.She opened her eyes, and watched out of the canopy as they began their descent, the naval base returning to view, the pale strip of the runway unfolding in front of them.Tifa tried to inhale air as they descended, and found that she was suddenly gasping as if hyperventilating.

The jet greeted the runway with a jolt, and Cloud was carefully steering it back towards the runway, Wedge a tiny figure on the ground, guiding them with a flare.When Cloud had finally parked the Corvette safely in the hangar, Tifa felt her breathing begin to normalize, though she still felt like she may be drowning.

Cloud took her hand and helped her unstrap and climb out of the warplane, his arm steadying her as she descended the ladder.When she was nearly at the bottom, her legs still shaking, he took her by the waist and gently lifted her away from the ladder, placing her on her feet in front of him on the tarp.

She looked up at him, completely breathless, the thrill and the exhilaration bursting from every capillary.He watched her with a question hidden in the cobalt depths of his eyes.

“So… what did you think?”

_I think I’m in love with you._

“That was amazing,”She let out in one rushed breath, steadying herself against him, afraid she might suddenly collapse.“I’ve never felt anything like that before.I could feel… every move that you made.”

He smirked at her comment, and Tifa felt herself blush, realizing how suggestive it sounded.But then he was leaning forward, capturing her lips between his.

It was the most explosive kiss Tifa had ever felt, charged by the dance of lightning she had just done with this man in his cockpit at forty thousand feet.Tifa pushed up on her toes to deepen the kiss, and feeling her reaction, Cloud’s mouth suddenly became hungrier, his tongue pushing against hers, lining her teeth.

As her heart began to tear through her chest, her knees weakening further and the dampness returning between her thighs, she felt Cloud pull away and take her face into his hands.He was looking at her with complete seriousness now.

“Tifa,” he ventured, his eyes searching hers carefully, slaughtering her under their intensity.“There’s something really important I need to talk to you about.”

Tifa swallowed thickly, her eyes falling back to his lips.“Can you tell me back at my apartment?”

Cloud was already turning, taking her by the wrist and leading her back to Fenrir.

When they reached her apartment complex, they moved quickly and quietly through the halls, hoping desperately that they didn’t run into any superiors on their way.In the elevator, Tifa stood across from Cloud, her eyes locked with his as he stared longingly at her, the green rims around his pupils bright.It took every ounce of her self control not to wrap herself around him right there, she wanted so badly to kiss and touch him, to have his hands all over her, tearing her to pieces right there in the elevator.

After an agonizingly slow ascent, they reached her floor, and Tifa led him straight down the hall to her apartment.Sliding the keycard in, she opened the door and pulled Cloud inside, slapping the door shut and locking it behind him.

Without thinking, her arms were locked around his throat, and she was forcing him in a stumble against the wall.

Cloud let her indulge in a long kiss, allowing her to push her body against his as her tongue explored his mouth, desperately searching for release from all of the tension that had built up inside of her since she had started dating him, since the first day she had caught him staring at her across the room at that party.When her kisses and sucks became desperate, he gently pulled her away by her shoulders, leveling his gaze with hers; the solemnity had returned to his eyes.

“Tifa,” he said her name slowly, and she started to collapse inside of herself, _god won’t he just fuck me already_.

“What is it?” she simply breathed out instead.

“I really need to talk to you - first,” he admitted.“It’s important.Can we- can we sit down?”

Tifa straightened up a little, and backed away from him.He was turning into that boyish, unsure version of himself.It disarmed her, but she took his hand, folding it inside of hers to reassure him, and she led him to her couch in the center of the living room.

“Okay.”

She sat down, trying to reorient her thoughts and push the burning desire back down, watching as he dropped to sit beside her.His hand was still enveloped in hers when he spoke.

“Tifa,”He started again with her name, and Tifa felt the explosive heat rise again, causing her to press her knees together violently as she mentally cursed her entire body.“I really don’t know how to say this - I’m just- I’m not good at it.I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this for the past month and a half. So I’m just gonna come right out and say it.”

 _Say that you love me,_ her stupid brain was flinging about.

“Tifa, you’re from Nibelheim, aren’t you?”

Taken completely off guard by this unexpected twist in the conversation, Tifa simply nodded. “Yes, I was born and raised there, before I moved to Midgar for university.”

Cloud closed his eyes as if he were summoning the strength to pursue this conversation.“Tifa, I grew up in Nibelheim too.I … I lived right next door to you.”

Tifa blinked.The snake was back in the recesses of her mind, pin pricking at something, its tongue darting out as it prepared to attack a memory she couldn’t marshal.

“Wh-“

“We weren’t close,” Cloud continued on, speaking over her attempt to interrupt.“We didn’t speak many times, but we knew each other.I - when I first saw you here on the base, that’s what I meant.When I said that you were familiar to me.I remembered you, Tifa.But - but you didn’t remember me.You still don’t, do you?”

Tifa stared at him, her crimson eyes wide open and glassy.And it started to come back to her.It started to hit her in waves, the soft, spiky yellow hair that reminded her of a chocobo’s feathers, the endlessly deep blue eyes, the handsome and boyish face that often betrayed some uncertainty, or self-deprecation, or complete wildness.The recklessness and dangerous decision making.

“Oh, Cloud,” Tifa gasped in miserable realization, and then her face crumpled, dropping into her hands as she began to weep.

Cloud’s eyes widened in horror.“No no no - Tifa, please don’t cry!”His hands were at her wrists, trying to pry them away from her face, and he was moving closer to her, trying to catch her eyes with his.Tifa just looked down, too appalled to look back at him.Instead, she shook her head, keeping her eyes, filmed over with fat, salty tears, down at her lap.

“I’m so, so sorry, Cloud,” she choked out, her voice broken by her sobs.“I - I remember now.You must think I’m a horrible person.”

“No,” Cloud responded resolutely, his thumb at her chin, trying to push her to look at him.“Never, Tifa.I’d never think that.You are the best person I’ve ever known in my life.”

Tifa finally looked up at him then, her chest heaving as she continued to fight the wracking sobs.His eyes were soft, looking at her protectively, possessively even, filled to the brim with concern. Her heart started to melt again, and she found herself opening wide to him again.

“Cloud,” she began carefully, slowly, feeling his gloved thumb gently rub at the side of her cheek, “Sometime after you left the village - I was on a ropeway tour in the mountains with my father and some other people from town.There was - there was a dragon attack. The ropeway had an accident.My father was killed.I - I was in a coma for a week.Some of my memories from before that are a little hazy in places.”

She saw the planes of Cloud’s face shift as the reality, the implications of her words hit him. He moved closer, his hand fully cupping her cheek.

“Tifa… I had no idea.” Regret was suddenly etched into the lines of his face.“I’m so sorry.I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No!” Tifa exclaimed, much too loudly.“I’m glad you did.And I remember now, Cloud.I promise I remember.And I’ll never forget.”

Impulsively, Tifa wrapped her arms around his neck, throwing herself into his embrace.Instantly, Cloud brought his arms around her back, circling her into his chest, holding her tight.

After a moment, feeling herself steady against him, Tifa took in a deep breath and pulled slightly away from him, glancing up to look at him, her eyes still glassy and wet.He lowered his arms, letting his fingertips graze the flesh of her arms.

“Cloud, I brought you here tonight because I wanted to make love to you,” she said, the raw emotions she was cascading through bursting forth in a furious burst of forwardness.“And I want that now more than anything.Let me?”

She saw the flick of desire flare and pop in his irises as he stared at her, and he was kissing her again, tugging her bottom lip between his teeth.

“Anything you want,” he whispered, his voice gravel.

Tears forgotten, Tifa pushed him gently against the couch, rising to straddle his lap.He looked up at her in amazement, his gaze settling over her face, bringing up his hand to wipe away the tears that were staining her cheeks, before he lowered his eyes across the lines of her throat and the curves of her entire shape.She watched him as he stopped to pull off his gloves, tossing them haphazardly to one side, before his warm hands slipped under her tank top, charging the flesh at her waist.

Tifa dipped her head and captured his mouth in a long kiss then, their tongues tangling in another dance as she held the sides of his face between her palms.He was sinking deeper into the couch, and she let her hands lower to the hem of his shirt, trying to tug it up and over his head. 

He stopped her then, grabbing her hands, shifting the energy as he sat up again.

“Where’s your bedroom?”

Tifa pulled away from him, taking note of the smirk that had reappeared on his face. She leaned her head to one side and pointed at a doorway toward the rear of the living room.

In one fluid moment, Cloud had risen to his feet with Tifa in his arms, her legs locked around his waist.

He carried her to the bedroom, pushing the door open with his boot, placing Tifa across her bed, which was quilted with a soft, downy blue comforter.As she sat there looking up at him, he moved closer to her, his eyes blazing blue again, and soon he was above her, caging her between his arms, his lips on her neck.

Tifa let every nerve awaken in her body as his lips and tongue brushed hotly against her skin, and she let him run his hands up her sides, pushing her tank top up to her collarbone, exposing her breasts where they lay trapped under her lacy blue bra.Cloud stopped to pull the tank top over her head, then helped her out of her shorts, taking note of the matching royal blue panties.

“You like the color blue?” he asked her, his irises dancing with mirth.

“It’s my favorite color,” she admitted with a little shrug.

Cloud was running a calloused hand across her belly, starting at the waistband of her panties and roving her taut abdomen up to cup her breast.

“What else do you like, Tifa?”

Tifa closed her eyes and sighed heavily, the baritone in his voice vibrating through her flesh, all of her senses completely overwhelmed by him.

“I don’t exactly know,” she told him timidly.“Can you help me find out?”

Cloud’s eyes darkened at that challenge, and then his mouth was on her flesh again, moving down her clavicle as his hands began to massage her breasts, squeezing them gently.She let her head fall to one side while he touched her, keeping her eyes closed, letting her senses absorb the sensations he was leaving her with.

She felt his hands snake around her back, unhooking her bra carefully before pulling its straps down her shoulders, leaving her breasts fully vulnerable to his eyes and to his touch. She opened her eyes to see him standing over her, drinking in her bosom, his eyes carefully passing over each full mound, the pert nipples and soft, dark pink areolas. She blushed at his scrutiny. 

Cloud stopped just for a moment to pull off his shirt and pants, dropping them to the floor somewhere forgotten behind him, leaving his boxers on.He climbed over her again, gently nudging her legs open slightly so that he could lay between them, resting the length of his lean, hard body across hers, and dropped his head down so that he could take one breast into his mouth.

Tifa let her eyes fall closed again and she emitted a gasp when Cloud began to suck gently on her nipple, his tongue flicking across the tightened flesh. Hearing the sound, she felt him smile across her skin, and he continued to work his mouth on her, eliciting slow moans of pleasure from her throat.

He alternated breasts then, laving the other with the same attention, and Tifa let her hand drop and fall into his hair, her fingers curling through the soft, flaxen spikes, fingernails grazing his scalp.

He lifted his mouth from her breast.“You like this?”

She nodded slowly at him. 

Cloud let his right hand slide down her abdomen again, and let it fall carelessly between her legs.Tifa inhaled sharply, closing her eyes again. 

_Oh god, he is finally going to touch me there._

Cloud pillowed his face against her breast as he turned his palm and let his fingers drag across the crotch of her panties, finding them sodden.He curled his fingers around the hem of the fabric where it lie pressed against her inner thigh, and hooked them inside. Instantly, his calloused flesh was submerged in her leaking desire.

“Did I do this to you?”

“It’s been like this since we were in the jet,” she confessed.

Cloud bit the flesh of her breast gently between his teeth, then rose slowly to help her slide out of her panties.Tifa looked up to watch him cautiously, anticipation a deluge that was drowning her. 

Cloud tossed the strip of fabric to the side, and gently nudged Tifa’s legs wider apart, displaying her entire slick pussy to him.She felt his gaze settle there lustfully, and she closed her eyes again, suddenly feeling the same thrill that she had felt up in the sky as he flew the Corvette against the winds.

Cloud brought his hand up to her folds, running his fingertips through her slick wetness, seeking her tight entrance.Tifa moaned quietly, thrusting her hips forward, wanting him to touch her aching clit.

He seemed aware of her desperation, slightly amused by it, and avoided touching her there, instead entertaining himself by swirling his fingertips in all of the liquid she had generated.It was torturous, and she let him know with her strangled gasps and the writhing of her hips.He simply watched her under him, slipping one finger inside of her, curling it upwards in order to find a spongy spot deep inside that made her moan.

Tifa tossed her head back, hair spilling in every direction across the comforter. She bit her bottom lip as he continued to press his finger deep inside of her, before slowly adding a second to join the first.

“Please, Cloud,” she found herself suddenly pleading with him.

“Please what?”

“Please… touch me,” her voice was a whine.

“Touch you where?”

This man was completely crazy.If she could have stamped her feet in frustration, she would have.“Please, touch my clit.Please.”

She knew that he was smirking like a madman, she didn’t even have to bother glancing up at him. She felt his fingers curl inside of her even more, and she trembled.

“Good girl… I like when you use your words.”

Something about the way he said that made her leak even more, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight, absorbing the intense, searing feelings he was drawing out of her.

Just as she thought she would burst from his teasing, he lifted his thumb to gently graze her clit, and Tifa thought he had just set her on fire.She arched her back at his touch, letting the pleasure roll over her in a wave.

“Arch your back like that again,” he beckoned, and he was pressing on her clit with that rough thumb.She obeyed him immediately, her body completely under his command.

“That’s right… good girl.You’re so sexy, Tifa, did you know that?”

He was killing her.She could scarcely breathe, much less respond.

He started to draw lazy, listless circles across her clit with his thumb, working her up into a wild frenzy with just the right amount of sensual pressure.He kept two fingers lodged inside of her, curling up against the tightness of her walls, scissoring her open, giving her a taste of the fullness he was promising her later. Tifa began to openly moan, surrendering herself completely to him as he tore her apart with the laziest touch.She was arching her back again, twisting and knotting the comforter in her fists, as he continued to stroke her blissfully, until she felt her belly coil and her toes curl, ankles rolling.

“Come for me, Tifa,” he said at exactly the right moment, and Tifa felt everything begin to unravel.

Suddenly, she was falling forward, careening as if she were dropping from the sky without a parachute as the wave tore through her.She let out a wild, forlorn wail as the orgasm rocked her, her mouth open wide and beads of sweat breaking out in a line across her forehead.Cloud kept his thumb pressed gently to her nub, helping her ride it safely back to him. When she had finally come completely down, he pulled his hand away slowly, moving over to press his lips to hers and kiss her tenderly.

“Wow, Tifa. You’re so beautiful when you come.”

Tifa felt fresh heat bloom all over her.She was completely smitten with his bedroom demeanor. _Where the fuck did this man learn to talk like this?_ Her mind was screaming.

“Can I take you even higher?” he was pressing, and she watched him, feeling like she had completely lost her wits, as he was sliding out of his shorts.

Although her cunt was completely engulfed in liquid flames from his lascivious ministrations, he was lowering his face between her legs as if he simply did not give a fuck.Tifa felt herself tighten as she realized what he was about to do, but everything was happening much too quickly for her to react.Before she could even open her mouth to speak, his lips were pressing kisses to the insides of her thighs, before they moved slowly to her folds, pressing between her slit, his tongue dipping inside of her, lapping at the wetness that poured out of her.Mercifully, he stayed away from her hyper-sensitive clit for the moment, working his tongue in and out of her with a therapeutic softness.

Tifa let her head fall back as he gently massaged her pussy with his tongue, letting the soothing relaxation from his adoration flow over her.She felt wetness tingle at the corner of her eyes as she realized how openly and unabashedly Cloud was caring for her, how attuned he was to her needs, how much he worked to please her and to make sure that she was feeling good.

 _I love him_ , she thought for the second time that night, just before he brought his lips up to her clit, wrapping them around it and pulling gently.

Tifa let him bring her higher.

He rolled his tongue across that sensitive nub, sucking at it gently, placing pressurized kisses against its sides until Tifa was moaning again in ecstasy, threading her fingers in his wild hair and pulling harshly on it, calling his name out and begging him to release her.He finished her with a long, needling suck, pressing his hand flat against her belly to hold her steady as her body wrought violently against him.Tifa screamed her way through the entire orgasm, and when she had completely ridden it out, he was standing above her, licking at the shining wetness on his lips, his hard length in his hand, obviously completely finished with foreplay.

She glanced at his size, then let her head fall back to the mattress again, disbelieving.He was hovering over her then, and then he was leaning forward to kiss her, and she was tasting her own tangy sweetness on his lips.

“Fuck - hold on.” He turned away from her for a moment, scrambling to find his pants, digging for his wallet and trifling through it until he produced a string of condoms. Tifa watched him as he worked quickly to unwrap one and slide it over his length.Thank Minerva someone had half their senses here.She had completely forgotten about this.

Once he was ready, he slid between her legs, pushing her thighs back so that her legs were dangling high above his shoulders, opening her insides up wide.He lowered the head of his cock to rest gently against the slippery folds of her pussy, and she watched him intently, ready for him to dive deep inside and claim her already.

He had stopped again, and Tifa could read the wild torrent of emotions that were passing across his face, that were making his eyes light up and flicker and glow with the most pleasing and desirable shades of blue she had ever seen as they stared down at her.

“Tifa,” he was saying her name again, ripping her wide apart and open with the way it rolled off his tongue.“I - have to say this.I’m sorry.I really care about you.I think - I think I love you.”

_ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod_

Tifa’s eyes widened, the butterflies in her belly were in her throat, her heart was full and heavy and twisted and leaking fat, happy droplets of blood all throughout her chest because it could not contain the feelings of joy and fondness and affection he was wrenching out of her.

“I love you too,” she professed without hesitation.

She saw his face shift again, the amorous look spread wide through his eyes, and then the head of his dick kissed her clit gently before he plunged inside of her, sheathing himself to the hilt as she let out a wild cry of adoration and need.

He kept her legs high above his shoulders, keeping her angled and open wide to him as he pressed deep inside of her, and Tifa locked her arms around his neck as she accepted him, letting him rock a deep, steady rhythm into her.She could feel every detail of his strokes - the way his groin trapped her clit between their bodies and gently tugged at it, the way his thick length rubbed and massaged her soft walls each time he moved in and out, the way the head of his dick pushed into that spongy, sweet, soft spot inside of her, one that had never been awakened before, not by any previous lover and certainly not by her own hands.As he continued to thrust, increasing his speed and his fervor, plunging away at that tender spot, Tifa let him claim her fully, screaming his name into the air above them.She remembered now, she thought again.She remembered now and she would not ever forget again.

She felt herself soon spinning towards a new paramount, chasing a different kind of a high and a different sort of precipice to throw herself from than the earlier ones he had given her with his hands and his mouth.Now, she felt she might not actually survive the coming wave she was going to crash into.Sensing her blissful distress, Cloud lowered his body closer to hers so that he could press in and hold her, still keeping her legs angled open and high, and pressed a kiss to her lips, and she began to unravel with fitful cries.Cloud slammed into her with a few more steady strokes, before he joined her, and they both began to fall apart together, crying each other’s names as he lost his seed and she lost her mind.

Tifa was breathing heavily, clutching at him as if she might lose him forever if she let her arms slip away from him.Cloud was trying to collect his own breathing above her, his forehead pressed into her shoulder.Tifa realized absently then that at some point during their lovemaking, his right hand had become entangled with her left, and they were now locked together at their sides, their knuckles both white from the intensity of their grip.

“You’re too good for me, Tifa,” Cloud suddenly whispered against her shoulder, dragging his lips and his nose across her flesh.

Tifa squeezed his hand, and brought her free arm around to circle his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair again.

“No, Cloud.We’re perfect for each other.”

That was the last thing either of them heard before they both drifted off into an exhausted slumber.


	3. Through the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back and thanks for taking this ride with me.
> 
> This chapter takes its title from the Larry Greene song, "Through the Fire".
> 
> For those interested, you can find a Spotify playlist of the songs from this fic here: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3C9i3DaZO9yEZWBbiJF8bV?si=vqmkJx7GRkWDTFucLx-2_w](url)
> 
> Lyrics really do correlate with the chapters!

CHAPTER THREE

Through the Fire

* * *

“Come here.”

Tifa rolled, almost reflexively, toward Cloud, dark hair splaying across the sheets like spilled ink.She groaned a sleepy assent as she curled against him beneath the bedsheets, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her naked body against his.

Cloud reached up a hand to brush her hair from her face, her eyes still closed as if in sleep, but the corner of her mouth turned up, suggesting she was awake.He leaned over, pressing his lips gently to hers, applying just enough pressure to part them slightly, the wetness of her mouth greeting him with enveloping warmth.

Though Cloud could hear the early birds beginning to chirp their morning melodies, the sky was still dark.The time on her bedside alarm clock read just a little past five am, and he’d woke, smelling the trail of vanilla that clung to her skin, and the slight, clammy arousal from their shared passions the night before.Although they still had some time to sleep in, he was awake now and very aware of her, and with his body flush against hers and his lips pressed to her mouth again, he could tell from her meek stirrings that she was as well.He pulled the covers of her sheets over their heads, burrowing them under the downy blankets as the air conditioning unit droned monotonous, white noise overhead, and the first dull, pale overtures of light began to faintly filter through the dark sky outside, early vestiges of the coming sunrise.

It was late August, nearing the end of the summer, and Cloud and Tifa had been seeing each other for over two months now. Unburdened by secrets formerly trapped between them, the past weeks had been filled with opportunities for the two to connect over and over again, deepening the heady, steadfast love that grew between them.Tifa’s memories of Cloud and Nibelheim returned in waves, unlocked by certain touches from his hands, particular expressions in his eyes when he would glance over at her, or in some of his awkward and boyish mannerisms that she would admire from time to time.They spent most weekends at one or the other’s apartments, becoming acquainted with their personal habits and quirks.While Tifa had figured out that Cloud kept things bare minimum and simple in his apartment, Cloud became more and more intimately aware of Tifa’s interests whenever he visited her place on base.She loved music, especially the piano, and she kept in shape with a leather punching bag that was propped up in the corner of her apartment’s small living room. Tifa was meticulously neat, but her desk was littered with books and research journals.And her closet was literally overflowing; so many suits and dresses and blouses and shoes that she couldn’t close the sliding wood door all the way shut.The morning after their first night together at her apartment, he had gleefully noticed this and asked her what the problem was.

“I had to move here for six months, at the least,” Tifa had informed him, coming into the bedroom with a mug of hot coffee for him.“That thing barely has enough space for six weeks worth of clothes.”

Thinking about that with a smirk, Cloud had realized he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Tifa in the same outfit more than once, professionally or otherwise.

To that end, Cloud and Tifa kept up their training schedule, trying with some difficulty to keep their rapidly erupting personal lives separate from the work they did together for AVIATOR. While Tifa handled it in much better stride, Cloud struggled with the blurred lines of their relationship and the work they did together.And it didn’t help him that Tifa’s time was increasingly consumed with working with her other AVIATOR students, especially when the side effects began to emerge.

The mako side effects.

They had started mostly without warning for some of the pilots who had undergone the enhancement processes.Cloud and his fellow comrades had thought their biggest worries were acute and immediate, in the hours or days directly after a mako shower.No one had really expected the signs to begin emerging weeks later.Most of the symptoms were relatively mild or tolerable nuisances - random bouts of nausea, body aches, fatigue.But some of the pilots were checking into the infirmary with more serious symptoms that were associated with long-term mako damage - mood swings, mental confusion, slight dissociation, hallucinations.

Cloud had started getting migraines about two weeks ago, not long after he and Tifa first made love.They were sporadic - he hadn’t thought much of the first two, they had been evenly spread apart and who didn’t get headaches when you lived around the constant, deafening roar of jet engines all day - but when the reports of other AVIATOR’s symptoms began to circulate, Cloud filed a stifling worry away into the back of his brain, and decided not to mention anything to Tifa unless the problem escalated.

Buried under the sheets, Cloud deepened their kiss, sliding one hand between their bodies, his fingers calmly gliding across the soft warmth and slickness between her legs.Tifa’s eyes opened at this, and he watched her blink carefully, her mouth parting slightly against his as he gave her a few gentle strokes with his fingers.

“Is it morning?” she asked him, her voice raspy with sleep, her hips angling up slightly to greet his hand.

Cloud grinned against her mouth, his teeth scraping her lips.“Not quite.I just couldn’t fall back sleep.”

Tifa made a sound that was not unlike a cat’s purr, before her arms came around him, and she was shifting gently under the sheets, moving over him until she was straddling him and facing him completely.She crouched over him, the covers still pulled over their heads, her hair cascading around them in a thick fountain of licorice. She drew her hands up to his chest, running her fingernails over the muscles, up to his clavicles.Cloud licked his lips as he stared up at her, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.Tifa still gazed down on him sleepily, but he could see the hazy stirrings of desire sparkle in the ruby edges of her irises.

Cloud watched as she sank down against him, her breasts flush against his chest, her lips delicately touching his.As she opened her mouth to kiss him, her tongue soft and swelling inside of his mouth to greet his, he felt her knees dig into his sides, the flats of her feet pushing against his calves as her hips began a slow, meticulous grind against his.Cloud groaned into her mouth, sliding his hands along her rear end, cupping the soft, round fullness of her flesh in his hands, giving her a gentle squeeze.He felt Tifa trap his bottom lip between her teeth as she stretched her body across his, and he reached forward to lower his hands over her curves and between her thighs, letting the tips of his fingers trace a slick line through her folds before stopping to rest at her clit.Tifa moaned into his mouth.

It was all the encouragement she needed.She rose up above him, her dark hair spilling across his upper body as she moved, the sheets slipping down around them again.Cloud let his hands fall to his sides as he watched her, his eyes connecting with hers for one intense moment before they dropped to admire the lines of her throat, the curves of her breasts, the planes of her flat stomach. His dick was hard between them, trapped and strained under the supple flesh of her thigh.She reached down to capture it in her soft grip, raising herself slightly to give leverage.He kept his eyes centered on the marvel unfolding between them, watching hungrily as she squeezed his length tightly in her fist, before rubbing its head across the wetness of her pussy, letting herself emit tiny, controlled moans at him every time she grazed it against her clit.Cloud groaned.

“Soaking wet already,” he growled at her.

Tifa stopped, then leaned forward and brought a fingertip to his lips.Cloud let his line of sight drop down to it, eyeing her perfectly shaped nail, dipped in a pale, iridescent blue polish that was barely noticeable but shimmering in the misty early sunlight that was filtering into the room. 

“Shh,” she whispered.

He watched as her finger dragged away, running down his chin, over his chest and abdomen, and back to where his cock sat painfully waiting by her wet heat.

His eyes refocused, glowing brightly, and he brought his hands to her thighs, squeezing divots into them. Tifa bit her bottom lip knowingly at him, then guided him closer to her opening, letting that tight, wet ring of warmth settle around the head of his cock, causing him to shift and grouse low in his throat.After a second that stretched on for hours, she lowered herself fully on him.

Cloud winced, thumping his head back against the pillow as he felt her sheath him fully.She was so warm, so wet, so tight - he felt himself getting lost, sinking deeper and deeper into the mattress to some unknown abyss of pleasure he might never emerge from.He closed his eyes, letting darkness overtake him as he embraced the intoxicating sensation of being inside of her.

Tifa began to move above him with lassitude, rotating and rocking her hips against his without lifting away from where their bodies were connected, keeping him buried deep inside of her.Her hands fell to his abdomen, gently caressing the muscles under his skin while also keeping him as leverage to steady herself against as she moved.

Cloud opened his eyes again, letting them absorb the beauty etched across her heart-shaped face, admiring how it contorted in pleasure, her mouth slightly parted, her eyes closed, a fervid crease marring her brow.

“Gorgeous.That feels good, doesn’t it?” his voice cracked.

“Shhhhh,” she warned him again.

“It’s all yours,” he dared.

Cloud let a smug look fall across his face as he watched her slowly work herself into a frenzy on him, her walls squeezing him with every movement, her neck rolling as her gasps began to elevate.He held onto his control for her, steeling himself against the caresses of her innermost sanctum, calling him home with every roll and tug of her hips.He dragged one hand away from where it gripped her side, sliding his thumb to rest listlessly against her clit.

He watched her face as she began to increase the speed of her movements, her hips grinding a little more roughly, pushing against the pressure of his thumb, her breasts swaying like heavy pendulums above him.He breathed deeply, tamping down his desire, keeping himself from veering too close to the edge while he watched Tifa work urgently to throw herself from it.

She was there soon enough, and Cloud was awestruck as her moans escalated and her body quivered above him, her walls collapsing and compressing around him.He kept his thumb pressed to the sore and aching nub that was pushing her over, his other hand digging deeper into the flesh of her thigh.He watched her as she crossed over, her face falling forward with one long, dragging moan of his name, her hair spilling across her shoulders and tickling his belly, her forehead dotted with beads of sweat.Cloud held her in place, watching her shoulders suddenly heave, waiting patiently until she finally made it through and mentally throwing ice on his own longing for release.

When the orgasm had washed fully over her,Tifa placed her hands together on the center of his chest to brace herself as she caught her breath.Cloud knew that she could feel his heartbeat through her hands, while his newly acquired mako-enhanced senses were letting him hear the blood rushing through her veins.

“Tifa,” he called to her gently, his voice needlessly hoarse, as if he’d been screaming.She continued to stare down at his chest, trying to catch her breath, to stifle the shudders that were passing through her flesh and bones.“Relax, Tifa.That was so good.”

She looked up at him at that, and their eyes met again, darkened raspberry red colliding with ocean’s blue, rimmed in a green glow.He noticed that her bottom lip was bruised from where she had been biting down on it as she rode him.

Cloud lifted himself up to a sitting position, then swiftly slid her off of his lap so that he could climb out from under her.

“Lie on your stomach,” he instructed her, and wiping at a little wetness at the corner of one eye, Tifa wordlessly did as he asked, lowering herself to her belly and stretching her long legs out across the bed.She folded her arms on top of the pillow and gently lowered her head to rest atop them.

Cloud admired the long winding curves of her body, the smooth lines and toned definition of her back. He gathered her silky chocolate tresses in one hand and moved them to one side, opening his view of the rear of her body.He positioned himself between her legs, kneeing them slightly apart, before taking his cock in hand, still hard and slick with her fluids, and lowered himself over her body until he was able to guide its head to glide against her folds, teasing her entrance and caressing her clit.

Tifa pressed her face against her arms and deeper into the pillow.

After rubbing himself tenderly across her for an interlude, Cloud lined himself up and slid into her, sidling up to the hilt.Tifa let out a harsh moan as he plunged against her spot deep inside with a new angle, burying her face deeper into the pillows.Cloud lowered his body against hers to embrace her, and dropped his face to the side of her neck, pressing a delicate kiss to her flesh as he began a punishing but smooth and steady rhythm into her.

As he went on relentlessly, Tifa’s moans of pleasure began to spiral into cries of desperation.The sounds were fuel to Cloud, revving him to drive with more harsh passion with every twist of his hips. He dragged a hand up to grab hers and squeeze, trying to give her the most intimate connection he could while they tore through this wild vertex together, trying to steady and ground her as she began to fall apart.He felt Tifa tighten around him, and he could vaguely decipher that she was screaming his name, vaguely certain that she was affirming that he was making her come just as he felt himself burst inside of her, every squeeze of her walls draining the very life out of him as he emptied inside of her.

Stars filled his vision as he collapsed on top of her back with dead weight, his right hand still tangled with hers, throbbing with pain from her grip.Tifa’s breathing was ragged, ugly, violent.He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then gently rolled off of her.He heard her inhale deeply as if she had just emerged from a body of water as soon as he moved off of her.

He stared at the ceiling in blissful silence for a long moment, listening as her sounds began to descend into some normalcy, her breathing beginning to regulate.The sun was almost fully up now, and her bedroom was suddenly so much brighter.

He turned to her, his senses clearing.She still had her face buried in the pillows, her shoulders were rising and falling calmly, but he could see her shivering.He rolled onto his side to face her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Tifa.”

Slowly, Tifa lifted her head, turning to look at him, dark hair sliding over her shoulder as she moved.Her pretty face was wet, clammy, and red, her bangs glued to her forehead.Was it all sweat?Tears? He couldn’t tell, every inch of her face was covered in a glistening film.

He sat up a little, taking her cheek in his palm.“Tifa, are you alright?”

Tifa’s eyes, a murky shiraz tinged with the sparkles of garnet, caught and held his. Her lips were pouty and swollen; they looked hurt, painful.Cloud brushed his thumb across them.

“Please kiss me,” she pleaded her response, her voice barely a whisper, the faintest hint of a whimper in its undertone.

So Cloud kissed her, long and tender and sweet, his arms sliding around her to pull her close to him.

It was a little after seven that morning when Tifa’s PHS chirped on her bedside table.Cloud sleepily pulled the covers over his head to avoid it, while Tifa blinked slowly, rolling over to lazily reach for the device and check the text message that had rolled through.

“Shit,” Cloud heard Tifa curse beside him after a moment.

Cloud pulled the covers down and winced against the sunlight, peering over at her.She had moved to an upright position, the PHS cradled in her hands as her thumbs skirted over the display while she typed.

“What is it?” he asked, admiring the fine line of her narrow shoulder, of the curve of the side of her breast he could see even though her back was mostly turned to him.

Tifa was shaking her head.“It’s Jessie.Heiddegar sent another one of his infamous last-minute emails.Apparently he is en route here for a big meeting at eight o’clock.I’ve got to hurry.”

It was Cloud’s turn to sit up.His absent reverie of admiring her body and reminiscing on their earlier lovemaking was abruptly disintegrated. 

“Heiddegar only ever comes to base before a deployment,” he grumbled miserably.

Tifa sighed, leaning over to grab her clothes off the floor.“I honestly don’t know.His email was very vague, as usual. Listen, Cloud, I don’t have much time.I’m going to shower and then I have to leave.You can stay here as long as you like.You know where the coffee maker is, right?”

He nodded slowly, offering her a small pout.

He watched a smile melt into Tifa’s features, and she leaned over the bed to offer him a chaste kiss.“Don’t be sad, chocobo-head.” She ruffled his hair, wilder and messier than usual thanks to their earlier affairs.“I’ll see you tonight.” 

Cloud watched with longing and mounting dread as Tifa sauntered into the bathroom to shower for the day.

Sometime after Tifa left the apartment, Cloud suffered his third mako headache.

* * *

Tifa arrived at the Research building five minutes before eight, giving her barely enough time to make it to the elevator and down the hall of the twelfth floor to the conference room where the emergency meeting was to be held.She had managed to shower, dress, and brush her teeth before leaving Cloud in her apartment in a flurry, walking the three or so blocks from her base apartment to the building where the offices were located, her heels clicking the pavement as she moved with her briefcase in one hand.As Tifa made her way toward the conference room, she noticed all of the top brass in the room through the glass walls, and steeled herself for a rough meeting.

Mercifully, Jessie had saved her a seat at the table.She slid into it, avoiding the eyes of the other players in the room.Admiral Heiddegar sat at the head of the table, leaned back, the barrel of his chest encapsulating nearly the entire edge of the table.To his right, and much to Tifa’s shock, Jessie’s boss, Weaponry Director Scarlet, sat with her legs crossed one over the other, her breasts outrageously on display, a bored expression on her face.Captain Cid was standing in front of his chair, too anxious to sit it appeared, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, flipping a lighter in hand as if he were threatening to ignite it.Even Vice Admiral Palmer, who was rarely summoned for these sorts of things and who Tifa assumed had secured his position as some sort of sinecure, was seated at the table, a cup of tea steaming in front of him as he thumbed through an aircraft manual. Several other research assistants and deputy commanders that Tifa had recognized around base filled the remaining seats.

“Ah, good, looks like we can finally get started,” Heiddegar’s deep voice bellowed at her entrance, and he leaned forward, the stitches of his juniper uniform straining against his wide frame.Tifa hazarded a glance at the long, ugly scar that ran over his left eye, marring his already haggard face, and wondered absently how he had earned it.

“Have a seat, Cid,” Scarlet tossed in the air with a flick of her wrist.“You’re making me nervous, hovering like that.”

Tifa could just barely detect Cid’s curse under his scowl as he dragged his chair out from under the table, scraping the floor obnoxiously before he fell into it.

“I’ll cut right to the chase, because we do not have a lot of time to prepare,” Heideggar was thundering from the head of the table.“In front of you are the latest debrief reports from SOLDIER operatives on the ground in Wutai.In sum, while some headway has been made on the ground, there is still considerable work to be done.We have not captured enough of Wutai’s strongholds along the coast to penetrate deep into the mainland where Kisaragi’s capital lies.”

Tifa reached a hand forward and pulled the report, encased in a plastic cover, closer to her scrutiny.The Shinra crest stared back at her in jolting red, bold black letters _CLASSIFIED_ screaming up at her.

“We have received intelligence of a planned bombing and materia attack on Rocket Town,” Heiddegar continued, causing Tifa to snap her head back up to look at him.“This unfortunate situation is unfolding rapidly.The President has issued an immediate war declaration ordering rapid deployment of AVIATOR units in order to push back the attack.”

Tifa swallowed carefully.It was just as Cloud had said.

Scarlet was leaning forward then, her cleavage dangerously overtaxing the fabric and seams of her imperial red dress.Tifa could not help but gape, wondering with fascination how the woman assumed this was anywhere near acceptable professional dress.

“As you are aware, the AVIATORs on this base have undergone a rather successful pilot with Mako infusion,” Scarlet crooned, her voice husky, but laced with an aristocratic lilt that Tifa thought sounded too practiced, like a movie starlet.“Although Professor Hojo could not be disturbed from his meticulously imperative research - “ her voice was dripping with sarcasm at this point, “- he has given us every indication that _Project Mighty Wings_ has been successful, given his full review of the reports.Side effects have been minimal, and no pilots have been lost in the transition.Degradation does not seem to be an issue, either.”

_Degradation_ , Tifa turned over anxiously in her head.

“Director Scarlet’s team is here already working on the Corvettes,” Heiddegar added. “Great progress is being made on the weapons capabilities of each warplane, giving them the power to blast any _Ueno_ right out of the skies with a simple push of a button!”He shouted a rough horse laugh then, tossing his head back to expose the sharp wrinkles in his jowls,his massive chest heaving with every guffaw.

Scarlet was holding a hand in the air, displaying her long, perfectly manicured red nails.“We are equipping every aircraft with condensed Huge Materia extracted from Fort Condor, Corel, and the underwater reactor in Junon,” she intoned gracefully, her richly painted lips pulling into a smile.“Project Manager Raspberry, might you share with the group what this means?”

Tifa felt Jessie stiffen and sit up straighter next to her.She had never seen her look so serious, nor radiate so much anxiety.

Jessie placed her hands carefully in her lap.“Each aircraft will have fifteen times the power of its materia turrets, and more than double the speed and efficiency in target lock-ons,”She informed the group with a deliberate edge to her normally upbeat voice.“We initially had concerns about the fueling capac-“

“And so,”Scarlet interrupted roughly, leaning forward again, her breasts forming a deep V.“Our AVIATORS will be unmatched in the air against the Wutain pilots.One shot, if aimed correctly, could take out an entire fleet.”

“Rather fascinating,”Palmer added uselessly.

“Hold on a goddamn second,”Cid was leaning forward, his gloved palm flat on the table.“You mean to tell me you’ve had your mechanics’ hands all over my goddamn fleet without even checking with me first?What kind of shit breach of protocol is that?” Somehow, his cigarette had remained unlit.

Scarlet made a disgusted kvetching sound in the back of her throat, rolling her eyes heavenward.“Oh, Highwind. _You_ of all people should know things don’t work like that around here.”The mockery in her voice was jolting.

“Goddamnit,” Cid swore again, fisting the table, knuckle-side down, eliciting a sharp rapping sound on the wood that seemed painful.

Scarlet had turned her pale green gaze to Tifa then, eyes rimmed with far too much kohl.“I’m sure you must find this rather intriguing, Ms. Lockhart, given your time spent with the pilots.Is there anything you would like to add, concerning your work here this summer?”

“Dr. Lockhart,” Tifa corrected carefully, chewing her bottom lip, which was still sore from Cloud’s earlier ravishment. She did not miss Scarlet’s sharp glower as she continued.“The pilots I have worked with are very capable, Director.They have made considerable progress since we’ve started, and I am quite confident in their skills.There have been some concerning reports about side effects from the mako exposure, but -“

Scarlet’s wrist was in the air again.“Mako enhancement always involves risk,” she cut in tersely.“As I mentioned, Professor Hojo remains unconcerned.”

Tifa was not sure that meant anything at all.

“Lockhart, only the very best of the best from this fleet squadron will be permitted on this particular combat mission,”Heiddegar briefed her stiffly.“We will be relying on your specific recommendations for those pilots we send in the air, so I expect your report to be thorough and your judgments to be sound.”

Tifa nodded, her throat tightening, thinking instantly of Cloud. 

“In addition,” he added, “both you and Project Manager Raspberry will be boarding _The Proud Condor_ for deployment.”He was looking at them both now, his dark eyes steely and unnerving.“We will expect you to monitor the mission and the aeronautical capabilities of the pilots, Lockhart, whilst Raspberry will be responsible for overseeing the weapons maintenance of the aircraft.”

“Of course, Admiral.”

“So now we’re bringing civilians aboard a fuckin’ warship?” Cid protested incredulously.

An argument ensued, but Tifa was not aware of its details, feeling herself fade into a hazy darkness as Heiddegar shot Cid down with a rough command and then decided he would not be entertaining questions from the group of commanders and researchers in the room.She was suddenly aware of the reality of this war, its certainty falling over her with a suffocating weight.This was no longer about training, about watching pilots from the hangar or over the radar screens, analyzing and dissecting their every move so that she could feed them her observations.This was about real combat, about aerial violence, about life or death.

And she was sending Cloud right into the thick of it.

She slipped out of her fog as she saw Scarlet push away from the conference table first, gliding out of the room with her hand on her hip.The meeting was over.Tifa blinked slowly, picking up the briefing on the table.Cid, cigarette now aflame, had gone over to where Heiddegar stood stone-faced and unamused, and was cursing up a blue streak to him about the mission.

Tifa felt Jessie’s hand fall to her shoulder, and she looked up with a nod, rising and then falling in step beside her as they left the conference room together.Both women were silent until they were inside of the elevator, alone.

“Wow,” Jessie breathed out first, and Tifa was suddenly aware of how raked thin her friend’s nerves were.“I wasn’t expecting this.I mean, Scarlet has had me working on the warplanes for some time now, but I never thought that they would send us to the actual mission.This is kinda scary, don’t you think?”

“Hm,” Tifa was thinking it over, glancing down at the briefing in her hands.She thought about he friend’s unfinished dissent, and she turned to Jessie again.

“Jessie, what was it you were going to say about the jets earlier, before Scarlet cut you off?About the fuel capacity?”

Jessie almost glanced around the elevator’s cabin as if she were afraid someone might be watching.Her voice dropped an octave.“Tifa, I was worried about some of the pressure readouts I was getting from the aircrafts.Huge Materia is not as stable as regular materia.The interactions with the engine’s internal combustion systems and the fueling mechanisms of aircraft can be… unpredictable.”

“Is it dangerous?” Tifa asked immediately.

Jessie offered a small shrug, staring at the dark carpeted floor of the elevator.“It’s hard to say, Teef.Scarlet pulled my testing on it as soon as I started it.”

The elevator doors slid open then, spilling out onto Tifa’s floor of the Research building.

She let Jessie’s words needle their way under her skin for the rest of the day.

* * *

It was a mere forty-eight hours later when Tifa was making her way to the docks with two large duffle bags stuffed with everything she could possibly fit in them.The mission brief had assumed they might be at sea for no more than three days, if Wutai stuck to their schedule for their surprise attack on Rocket Town.The uncertainty of the mission that lingered in that fine detail had sent surges of anxiety spiking throughout her central nervous system.

Tifa had reviewed the mission brief no less than a hundred times since her meeting with Shinra’s top brass. She and Jessie had even sat together and poured over it at length at her kitchen table, poking holes in the plan to figure out the best possible workarounds for the pilots and the aircraft in case plans A, B, C, or D did not pan out.Jessie had expressed her frustration again at Scarlet and how she had been roadblocked from fully testing the impacts of the Huge Materia on the jets.Tifa tried to push the distress of these thoughts from her brain.

Cloud had already boarded _The Proud Condor_ with his fleet, Tifa knew.She’d had to make the uncomfortable decision to put him at the top of the list of recommendations for pilots to participate directly in the counterattack against Wutai, along with Lieutenants Zack, Reno, Rude, and Biggs, who would be flying a backup tail to the other two pairs.Cloud’s mood had darkened as soon as he learned of the inevitable deployment.Tifa was not sure why he was so surly; he had been deployed on these sorts of missions plenty of times, and didn’t he live for the thrill of it?They had made love in the days leading up to their departure, and although Cloud had been as attentive as ever, Tifa was aware of the distraction clouding his mind, pulling him away from her, sending him inside himself.

As she boarded the massive warship, in awe of its size and stature, of its stark lines and dark architecture of steel and polyethylene, she wondered idly if she would see Cloud at all before his fleet took to the sky against the _Ueno_.They were both on the same ship, but as a civilian, she would be kept carefully corridored away from the active duty pilots, holed somewhere with the commanders where she could monitor the radar screens and analyze the airmens’ execution from the ground.It made her sad to think that she and Cloud could be at once so close, and yet, so far apart.

It was late that night when _The Proud Condor_ had navigated away from the base, and was cruising deep into the Western sea, flanking the northern border of the continent where Rocket Town sat several hundred miles away, yet still closing the distance between the strip of land mass where Wutai lay. Tifa sat crossed legged on the bed in her small, cramped cabin, reviewing the mission briefing again, wondering what else could go wrong and how they might avoid it, when she felt her PHS buzz at her hip.

_Cloud: Meet me on the flight deck by the bridge in 10._

Tifa stared at the message that was illuminated in the glow of her device for a long moment.It was late - almost midnight.Tifa was sure that Cid or any other commanding officer on this naval carrier would have plenty to say about her traipsing around on its dangerous flight deck in her yoga pants and hoodie, an area that she had already been expressly told was off limits.The text message stared back at her, sending a familiar, visceral thrill through her blood.

Tifa rose slowly, zipping her hoodie and scooping her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, tucking her PHS into her pocket as she made her way out and above to the deck.

Tifa had not yet been above deck while the ship was in motion on the sea, and as she emerged above ground, she found herself gasping at the sight.The flight deck was essentially a wide, gray, open expanse of jet runway, paved with asphalt that glittered under the moonlight.She could see the bridge a few paces ahead to the right of where she stood.In the far distance at the opposite end of the deck, Tifa could make out the glinting shapes of the rows of F-80 Corvettes, lined up and waiting for their pilots to take them to the sky.

The darkness was thick and permeating, but the sky sparkled and shined, the moon and stars unobstructed by steel buildings or the smog of pollution.It reminded Tifa of the nights over Nibelheim, back home, where she first learned to love the sky.She felt the slight chill of the oceanic air cut through the sleeves of her hoodie, raising the hairs on her arms as she listened to the ocean gently slap at the port and starboard of the ship, and she turned to look at the ocean, its dark waves lapping benevolently. She realized with a vague sense of horror how simple it would be to fall overboard to her death on this ship.

“Tifa.”

She looked up, hearing the thick baritone of his voice, and saw his dark shape leaning against the abandoned bridge ahead, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.Another chill ran through her, and Tifa wrapped her arms around herself as she crossed over to him.

As soon as she neared him, falling under the dark shadows of the bridge overhead, Cloud’s arms were wrapped around her, pulling her in close.He was dressed casually as well, wearing his naval sweats with his bomber jacket on, dog tags around his neck and picking up the moonlight.Tifa inhaled as she locked her arms around him, inhaling his freshly showered scent, the spice of his aftershave tickling her senses and reminding her of being tangled in his bedsheets.

Cloud lowered his chin to rest on the top of her head.“The mission is tomorrow,” he rued, his voice low and quiet.

“Hm,” Tifa keened, letting her cheek press against the crook where his shoulder met his clavicle, her skin cool against the smooth fabric of his jacket.“Are you okay?”

He pulled away a little from her then, looking down at her with those fiercely glowing blue irises, magnified by the open darkness of the night sky around them, refracting off of the gleam of the ocean’s surface. 

“I’m fine,” he confided, bringing his fingers up to her face, gently brushing against her cheek.“I just needed to see you.”

Before she could respond, his lips were on hers, tasting her, his tongue tenderly brushing across the folds of her mouth and provoking hers to dance. She leaned against him, instantly falling into his tempest once again, here on this wide open flight deck, above the sea and beneath the stars.

Within the space of a second, Cloud held a hand to the small of her back and whirled her around so that her back was pressed against the concrete wall of the bridge, and she could feel its coolness emanate through the fabric of her hoodie.His kiss began to take on a fervent note, and she felt his hand slide from her cheek to the hem of her hoodie, sliding under it and the tank top she wore beneath, fingers grazing her abdomen and causing muscles there to recoil pleasingly under his touch.His mouth began to take on a rough edge, his teeth scraping at her lips, nipping at them, his tongue at war with hers in her mouth.

Tifa let out a moan as his hand found the elastic waistband of her yoga pants and slid past them, edging right beneath her panties, his calloused fingers wasting no time in navigating below to where she was beginning to grow warm and wet from his touch.She arched against him, encouraging him, forgetting they were out here in the open on the deck, her presence here quite possibly being completely illegal.

Three of his fingers were waltzing across her wet slit, parting her folds and teasing her core. She reached forward with one hand to fumble for his pants, but Cloud withdrew his free hand from her back and took her wrist in hand instantly, positioning it above her head and pinning it there under his grip.

“Just let me do this,” he urged.

Tifa melted against him, hitting her head back against the concrete of the bridge a little too hard as his fingers began long, sloping strokes across her sex, dragging the swirls of her wetness over her clit, rubbing it, circling, and dipping back down to crawl inside her.He kept up this maddening, tantalizing pace until she was moaning ecstasy into the wind, and he pressed his lips against hers again to silence her.

Tifa felt herself crash into the euphoria as the pinnacle drew near, and she thought she might have actually plunged into the ocean below as it finally broke her.She came across his fingers with a sharp, gasping cry of his name, and he pressed his body roughly against hers to steady her, his hand still melded with her flesh, his lips soaking up every sound she made as the elation finally slipped from her body.

Moments later, Tifa’s breathing subdued, and she shook her head slightly, flinging the sweet frenzy from her brain.Cloud was nuzzling her cheek gently; his hand had slipped from her pants and the other released her arm from above her head, both finding purchase at her hips as he held her close.

“Cloud…” she breathed against his ear,“Are you…”

“I’m fine,” he reassured her quickly, pressing a kiss to her cheek.“I just needed to take care of you.”

Her arms, now free, came to wrap around his shoulders, pulling him into an embrace.Warmth drenched her, as much as the tides of the sea might.

“Listen, Tifa, I remember everything you told me,” he entreated her softly then, his mouth roving towards her ear.“Tomorrow, I want you to watch, and see how I’ve listened, everything I’ve learned from you.You’ll see.”

He pulled back again so that their eyes could meet, blue crashing into red like the waves of the ocean greeting dark pink dunes of sand. Tifa could only nod slowly, feeling a burning wetness stinging the corners of her eyes.

“I love you,” he affirmed with a heavy note of finality.

Tifa felt herself lifted off the ground by the incredible force that carried in his voice.“I love you too,” she rejoined.

Cloud gave her a rare smile that was not one of his usual smirks, before he dropped down to kiss her tenderly.Then he took her hand in his.

“Let’s get you inside, before Cid figures out we’ve been up here,” he told her, leading her back to the hatch to descend into the ship’s belly.

Tifa let him guide her, feeling the warmth bubble and spill throughout her insides.

* * *

Sunlight was blaring above with a punishing red heat, flaring the pale skin at the back of Cloud’s neck as he climbed into the cockpit of his F-80 Corvette.Around him, he could hear the shouts on the flight deck, could see his comrades - Zack, Reno, Rude, and Biggs, who were all cleared for this round of combat, making similar preparations as they slid into their jets, locking on their goggles and helmets and oxygen masks.Cloud did the same, letting the canopy of his warplane fall shut above him, encasing him in the majestic piece of machinery that was humming with life as the engine idled in place.He watched the fuel gauge rise on his dashboard as a mechanic filled the tank, and then his gloved fingers dipped into the pocket of his bomber, withdrawing a small, crystal figurine of a carved blue dolphin that dangled from a stainless steel keychain.

Cloud remembered the moment he had seen it hanging from the zipper of the leather portfolio Tifa used to store her notebook as she traversed between meetings and sessions back on base.He had found it such an endearingly odd detail, and when he asked her about it, she had replied that dolphins had been her favorite animal for as long as she could remember - her mother had given her a dolphin plush when she was small, long before she had passed away from cancer.Tifa had said the plush was still in her apartment in Midgar, locked away with some other valuables and mementos from her life in Nibelheim, heirlooms from her parents, long dead and buried.But over the years, she had begun to collect these dolphin trinkets and baubles, enamored by the sleek lines, the bubbling affection, and the emotive intelligence of this particular breed of aquatic mammal.Tifa had remarked to Cloud with a rich laugh that it was a common misconception that dolphins were monogamous, in fact the opposite was true, they were well known for their involvement in numerous trysts and scandalous affairs.Cloud remembered how joyous her laughter had been, how she had tossed her head back just like she had when he first saw her again on base, a sign that she was truly humored. 

When he learned of his current deployment and the dangerous escalation of the war against Wutai, he had asked her if he could have the charm to hang in his cockpit, and she’d handed it right over.

Cloud slid the dolphin’s chain over a switch next to his head-up display, letting the charm dangle just slightly out of his most critical line of sight.Directly ahead of him, he saw Zack’s jet begin to crawl down the runway, and he heard a crackle in his headset.

“Alright, SPIKE, it’s you and me buddy,” Zack’s voice was calm and steady, an always present reassurance, like the drifting and rocking of the sea below.“We’re gonna take these _Ueno_ dogs down!Stay to my right flank, SPIKE.”

“Ten-four,” Cloud responded into the radio, watching as Zack’s Corvette began to ascend into the sky, and Cloud followed behind, the asphalt of the runway on the flight deck grinding violently beneath his jet’s wheels. “I’ve got your back.”

“Good to be on board, boys,” Biggs’ voice was suddenly in his ears.“This is COACH, happy to be your backup, covering all your skinny asses.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Reno’s drawling, sardonic response clicked through.“Doubt we’ll be needin’ you much, but I ain’t gonna complain about another tail on my ass.”

Cloud could hear Rude’s rough, low chuckle garble through the radio.

Their puerile banter was forgotten as his jet’s twin engines roared to new life in his ears, carrying him skyward, the nose of the Corvette pointed to the heavens.Cloud felt the cabin pressure pull at the flesh of his cheeks, the vibrations of the engines reverberating through his seat, stirring his very bones with a familiar thrill.As he lifted higher and higher into the air at breakneck speeds, defying gravity and every law of physics, trailing the path that Zack had already torn through, Cloud pulled back on the throttle and basked in the frenetic ascent.

After puncturing another pocket of cumulus and cirrus, Cloud checked his altimeter to see he was hovering around thirty-seven thousand feet.The clouds were so thick at this particular altitude, Cloud no longer had any visibility of Zack’s aircraft through the windshield, and instead turned to his HUD, tracking Zack’s Corvette on the radar screen.

“RASCAL, I’m tracking you.The sky is thick up here today.Is there a storm coming?”

“SPIKE doesn’t check the weather, what a revelation,” Biggs commented through the radio, and Cloud frowned at himself.

“Keep tight, SPIKE.I’ve got my eyes peeled for _Ueno_ as we speak.So far, all calm on the Western front,” was Zack’s reply.

They flew on for a while like that, hovering at times, covering and protecting the precious ground below with their wings in the sky.Through their idling, Cloud occasionally chanced a glance out of his canopy, seeing mostly clouds, but sometimes the dark shapes of the continents below.He thought of the warship behind them, Tifa watching him with her careful scrutiny to see if he had perfected and honed his craft with the carefully constructed feedback she always gave him, him the keys of a piano, her the careful and collected chromatic lever that guided him to ebb out the most perfect notes as he played, weaving this monstrosity of war through the sky.

He surged on, following Zack in the sky.Moments of bliss, where he lived completely in his head, listening to the roars of his jet’s engines, passed by, leaving him feeling more in his element than ever before.Also as good, as natural, as _himself_ when he was with Tifa, sharing a laugh with her about something silly and spontaneous, debating aircraft mechanics with her, watching her wipe droplets of white wine from the corner of her mouth with her pinky finger, making love to her until she shouted his name in blissful agony. 

He tore the jet closer to Zack’s flight pattern, just as he heard the fresh new shouts.

As the KiS’ - six of them, all in perfection formation, like eagles in the sky - dropped into view, Cloud heard Reno’s frantic voice first.

“Fuck these guys.Do you see this shit!?” 

Cloud could not see much, he was still enveloped by mist. Damnable weather today.But he could see his HUD, and the precarious way that two KiS aircraft were hovering around Bigg’s tail, as if they had anticipated their counter strategy, as if they knew it all.A new blaring red dot alerted him that another KiS was only a hundred thousand feet from Rude’s jet.

“SPIKE, I’m going south to get this bogey at 11 o’clock,”Zack announced, and Cloud watched Zack’s radar blip as he maneuvered swiftly out the way, dipping behind another pocket of clouds.Cloud drove his jet into Zack’s turbulence, both of them jolting from the shock of it.

“Roger,” Cloud replied as he began to see brighter blue above his canopy in the sky.Above the wisps, he could now just barely make out Zack’s jet ahead.

Bigg’s voice came through in a panic on the radio.“Bogey on your left, fuck, it’s locked on to me now.Retreat, RED, HAMMER.This is a takeout.”

“Fuck!!” Reno’s dry curse cut through the air, and Cloud had had enough.

“RASCAL,” he called carefully into the radio. 

“Go, Cloud,” Zack’s reply was measured, understanding, soft.“I got this.If I need your help I’ll call.”

So Cloud pulled the throttle and careened violently to the left. He watched everything around him shift through shades of red and blue.Tifa’s dolphin somersaulted against the movements of his jet.The corners of his eyes tightened again as he thought about her, careening through the sky towards what might be his death, and all he could see was her languid stare in Nibelheim, or her caring smile when he embraced her in her apartment that first night, or anything else that had traversed between them in the space of time he’d known her.

“RED,” Rude was complaining over the radio. 

The KiS were in for a desperate fight, full-on flanking the AVIATOR forces.Zack was engaged in a dogfight of his own with an _Ueno_ pilot who kept dipping in and out of the reality of their battle. Eventually Zack gained the upper hand, shooting the Wutain jet down with an intensity that made Cloud feel as if the entire world was crashing around him.

“RASCAL, I’m about to - “ 

“Go,” Zack screamed then, and Cloud felt his boldness return.

He commanded charge of himself then, swerving in a wide arc as he careened away from Zack’s fighter.“Let’s go. I got this.”

Itwas a wild torrent from there.He consistently defied physics, and broke away from Zack’s wing at every interlude.And Cloud’s thoughts were sticky with Tifa - her hands, her mouth, her deep insides wrapping around the edges of his every thought.

His brain tried to push her aside, watching Zack tangle with new pilots in the sky, materia turrets blasting again, and Cloud sighed with audible frustration.He moved seamlessly in the air, and then pushed forward, remembering the first time Tifa came across his fingers with abandonment. 

_You are better than this.Aren’t you?_

He reoriented himself, just as Reno began to panic and scream over the radio. “Move left!”Cloud heard his violent shout, and he pushed the throttle violently, his speed increasing as he pushed forward toward where Reno and Rude were ambushed by a trio of KiS aircraft.

“He’s locked on me, this motherfucker!”Reno raged across the radio.

Biggs rambled a response, and Cloud could vaguely hear the roar of his engines as he ascended to provide Reno and Rude with some cover.Cloud pursued, gritting his teeth, the gravitational force pulling the flesh of his face flat against his skull.

“If you can’t take him, I will,” he muttered into the headset, and Reno was cursing again, swearing every god that had ever been worshipped by man or Ancient into the ground.

“Bogey on my six.I’m locking on!”Zack’s cry was distant, far off into the wind, somewhere otherworldly as Cloud zeroed in on the assault that was circling Reno and Rude’s aircrafts, the three KiS harassing their journey to taking them down.

“Look out, SPIKE!”Biggs suddenly shouted, and Cloud looked up at the roof of the canopy of his jet, seeing the underside of a KiS suddenly barreling towards him, and he slammed on the throttle violently to avoid a collision, shoving him backwards from the melee.

Distantly, Cloud heard the rapturous thundering of materia turrets, a colorful blaze erupting in the sky somewhere far to his right.Feeling sweat pool beneath his helmet, Cloud tore off his oxygen mask and growled into the headset.

“I’m en route, RED, HAMMER, COACH,” he trumpeted, earning a caustic grunt from Reno through airwaves.

“Shit!” He heard Zack curse then.“My fuel gauge is acting all crazy.What the hell is this?”

Cloud shook his head again, plunging into the ambush that was still assailing Reno, Rude, and Biggs.Seeing Biggs’ aircraft flash into view, Cloud slammed the throttle forward and lurched into the fray, twin KiS paired above his comrades.Cloud’s eyes skimmed over Tifa’s dolphin before they landed on the control panel, and he let his gloved fingertips skirt over the materia turrets, locked onto FIRAGA, his HUD lighting up with the indication of his locked-on position.

“I’m taking them both out,” he pledged to the others over the radio.

The next several moments were a blur of warped speed and crashing turbulence.Cloud watched in fury as the explosion of intense fire spells ejected from the belly of his aircraft, tearing through the sky with vicious ribbons of orange and red.The twin KiS were slammed by the impact, both erupting into flames and breaking apart into metallic chunks as the remains were hurled down to the ocean below.

The destruction offered Rude and Biggs the opportunity to circle around Reno and pin the third KiS aircraft between them, Reno dipping out of the line of danger, and Cloud saw the blue streamers of a Blizzaga spell carve the air from Rude’s turrets.Harshening his lips into a thin line of determination, Cloud veered away from their dogfight to pursue Zack.

“RASCAL, I’m back on your wing,” he chucked cooly into the radio, only to be greeted by a mild panic underscoring Zack’s response.

“Roger, SPIKE - I’ve taken the other two out already - but my fuel gauge suddenly plummeted.My systems are all overheating.I might have to eject.”

_Eject_ , Cloud thought wildly, the idea unimaginable.He grit his teeth, pushing the throttle harder, aiming for Zack’s wing, just on the other side of a fresh shield of clouds.“Hold tight, RASCAL.I’m almost there.I’ll guide you back to the ship, we’re almost at-“

He was cut off by the savage blast, tearing through the clouds to reveal the horrific sight that erupted in front of him just three thousand feet away. Just as Zack’s nimble fingers reached downward for the ejection seat mechanism, the materia turrets deep within his jet imploded, splitting fire against the remaining fuel in the tank. Cloud’s blue eyes widened and darted violently against their sockets as he watched Zack’s Corvette break apart into flames and pieces of steel and aluminum and magic, jet fuel pouring through the sky like rain.

The next moments were a dissociative blur for Cloud.As soon as he saw the first chunk of metal tear away from where Zack’s jet had been whole just a millisecond prior, the mako migraine assaulted him with a splintering sharpness, the pain dulling his senses and tearing his focus away from his control of the aircraft, causing him to jerk and careen carelessly in the air, even as the explosions continued to rock the sky.He was vaguely aware of the panicked shouts in his ears from his comrades, of Captain Cid’s hastened and terrified barks of orders from the ground.He wasn’t sure how his warplane eventually left the hostile air over the water between Rocket Town and Wutai, or when the last KiS had been dispatched, or how his jet had been able to touch down on the flight deck and veer to a halt.He didn’t recall how he had crawled out of the cockpit once on land, or how he had tossed his helmet and goggles to the asphalt, nor did he remember the black rage that erupted from his lips when the mechanics rushed forward to try and help him disengage, the headache pushing him painfully into a deep abyss.He didn’t recognize the whirring sounds of a rescue helicopter overhead as it raced toward the sea, searching for vestiges of life among the wreckage. He didn’t remember the commanders calling to him or Cid summoning him to his office, he didn’t remember anything, until he was sitting like steel in his cabin in the barracks, blankness overcoming him, the seven seconds before the end replaying over and over in his mind like an ugly, terrible film reel.

A rapt at his door captured his attention, and Cloud looked up with a nebulous sense of awareness.The door slid cautiously open then, revealing Biggs, who stood there, a bloody bandage wrapped around his forehead, taking the place of his usual red headgear.Cloud let his eyes lock emotionlessly with his comrade’s.

Biggs swallowed carefully before speaking, his hand locked around the doorknob, as if summoning its strength.“Captain really needs to see you now,” he murmured, his voice tight and cracked in his throat.Cloud almost recognized the wetness puckering at the corner of Biggs’ eyes, the redness that was marring his rugged features with new lines of age. He expelled an almost inaudible sigh, pushing himself to his feet, rubbing his palms across the tops of his thighs as he followed Biggs out of his cabin and to the Captain’s office.

Cloud’s headache continued to rage as he entered the office, which was permeated by the stale scent of fresh cigarette smoke.Cloud coughed slightly as Biggs closed the door behind him and departed, the smoke was so thick it was burning his eyes.Cid was standing to the side of his desk, the cigarette between two fingers, and Cloud could see that the man looked like he had doubled in age.

“Strife,” Cid said roughly, and Cloud did his best impression at standing at attention.The Captain shook his head, gesturing to a chair across from his desk.“At ease.Have a seat.”

Cloud moved slowly, dropping in the chair, watching as Cid carefully did the same behind his desk.The headache pulled pain across his temples, inducing a wave of nausea that passed over him as he felt the ship lurch slightly in the water.

“Fair is dead,”Cid spat without ceremony, his pale blue irises settling on Cloud’s face, betraying a weight and a sadness Cloud had never witnessed before.“The choppers tried, but by the time they found him, it was too late. He was gone among the wreckage.”

Cloud felt the bile rising in his throat, felt the headache intensify, felt his heart shatter into a million pieces and crash into the pit of his belly.

Cid leaned forward, shaking his head, his voice cracking rough as he continued to speak, his backwater Rocket Town drawl splintering with pain.“They recovered the body, at least.We’ll be bringing it back to his wife, of course.Precious thing, that Aerith.And those two boys.Lady Luck, if Shera ever…”

Cloud felt a vice tighten inside himself as Cid diverted his eyes to the ceiling, desperately trying to conceal the feelings of hurt and emotion that were threatening to reveal themselves in the form of tears at the corners of his eyes.But Cloud recognized it, heard it in the way the Captain’s voice wavered.

Cid collected himself slowly, then turned his gaze back to Cloud.“There’s going to be an investigation,” Cid warned him carefully, studying Cloud’s reaction.“We all saw what happened up there, and I won’t be the one to say it was your fault, cause it wasn’t.But you broke the rules of engagement, again - and that’s enough to warrant an inquiry.”

Cloud sat fully upright in his chair.“But sir, the three KiS - “

Cid held up his hand, shaking his head.“I’ve said my piece on it.I’ve already defended you to the shithead suits.But I can’t stop Heiddegar.Just - try not to let it get under your skin, Strife.We’ll be on base in a number of hours.”

Disbelieving, Cloud sank back in the chair again.He watched as Cid slid something silvery towards him on the desk.

_This is all my fault,_ his mind was tearing him apart. _I let you down._

“Here,” Cid’s voice was low and soft again, betraying a gentleness that Cloud had never witnessed from him before.“Fair would have wanted you to have this.”His gloved palm left the object on the wood, gleaming in front of Cloud.

Zack’s dog tags.

Cloud swallowed a sharp, painful shard of hurt as he reached forward and took the chain into his fingers, staring at the simple stainless steel that was glittering under the mako lamps of Cid’s office.His headache pulsed a dull tempo against his skull.

_I failed you,_ he thought again, his inwardly-directed rage seeping into his grief. _‘I’ve got your back.’Easy to make that promise._

Cloud rose and left Cid’s office, scooping the dog tags into his fist, his migraine blinding him.

* * *

Tifa held her purse against the front of her dark skirt, glancing up at the numbers of the elevator in Cloud’s base apartment complex rise as she ascended.She swallowed thickly, feeling a dark pain edge her throat as her mind poured over the events of the last few days.

She had not seen Cloud since the catastrophe that had erupted in the combat mission above the precarious waters between Rocket Town and Wutai, resulting in the loss of Lieutenant Zack ‘RASCAL’ Fair.She had not even communicated with him, outside of a few text messages and phone calls on her part that had gone unanswered.She saw him for a brief moment at the funeral a few days later on base.She had watched him as he stood mournfully in front of Aerith, who was planted beside the casket, her eyes rimmed red as tears flowed like rivers down her face, her wails puncturing the atmosphere with cruel disorder.Tifa watched as Cloud shook his head, offering Aerith a handful of yellow lilies, watched as Aerith sobbed and wrapped her arms around his neck, him standing there like a statue.

She had meant to approach him, to ask him if he was okay, to hold him in her arms and console him and ease away the deep sorrow she knew he was trying to climb through.But he disappeared before she could muster the courage, and Tifa spent the rest of the afternoon at Aerith’s side, doing her best to comfort the widow who now seemed decades younger, a child struggling with the weight of the Planet on her shoulders.

Tifa had watched the radar screens in real time as the dogfight escalated in the sky between the AVIATORs and the group of _Ueno_ Needlekisses. She’d watched Cloud’s jet assist Zack’s with the dispatch of one, before he veered off course, moving to assist with the skirmish that was quickly overwhelming Reno, Rude, and Biggs. Awestruck, she watched Cloud’s effortless maneuvers, the way his plane dipped and curved and spun on the radar screen, before he dispatched two KiS with one blast, clearing the way for victory.

And then everything had gone to shit, Zack’s blip blinking and disappearing off of the radar screen.

After enlisting her free time to help Aerith around her and Zack’s apartment and with the twins, who were too young to fully understand the gravity of what was happening, but were acutely aware of the absence of their father’s presence nonetheless,Tifa had grown frustrated with Cloud’s lack of response.Her body ached with the need to talk to him after the gaping loss and tragedy they had just been pulled through, both to console him and to decipher his mental and emotional state.When he continued to refuse to engage,she decided to confront him directly.

Tifa strode down the hallway when the elevator stopped, moving with purpose towards his apartment.After inhaling a deep breath, she raised her fist to knock carefully on the door.

A long moment passed before she detected the sounds of light shuffling inside of the apartment.She waited until the door shifted open, Cloud standing at its threshold, his blue eyes dull, his hair a wild mess, his sweats disheveled.

The lines of his face softened slightly when he saw her, and his eyes drank her in, before he shook his head and turned away, still blocking the entrance with his stance in the doorway.Tifa took a bold step forward, closing the distance between them.

“Cloud, I’ve been trying to reach you.What’s going on?Can I come in?”

He sighed heavily, stepping to the side to clear a path for her.She stepped into his living room, and he closed the door behind her.

“Are you alright?”she asked him immediately, her hand lifting upwards to touch him, but falling short; something in the air between them warned her against it.

Cloud crossed the room to the couch, dropping on to it, shaking his head.“I’m fine.I’ve just been having headaches the last few days.”

Her eyebrow went up.“When did that start?”

Cloud simply waved a hand at her.

Worrying her bottom lip, Tifa stepped deeper into the apartment and approached the couch, falling on it beside him.Cloud was completely avoiding her gaze, staring down at his socks, whose undersides were grey with filth.She took a few deep breaths, wanting desperately to lean forward and place her hand on his shoulder, to drop it to his wrist and take his hand in hers, to wrap her arms tight around his neck and cradle him to her breast.But the invisible barricade that stood suddenly between them prevented her from moving, prevented her from doing anything but letting her voice scrape precariously against her throat.

“Cloud, I’m really sorry about Zack,” Tifa ventured earnestly, and tears were threatening the corners of her eyes.She saw Cloud wince, shaking his head miserably.

“It’s fine,” he lied to her without putting any effort into it.

Tifa frowned, feeling anger rise in her chest.Anger at everything that had happened, ruining the connection that they had built.Anger at Zack’s needless death.Anger at Aerith’s wrenching anguish, anger at two boys who were left alone without their father.Anger at Scarlet, who dismissed Jessie’s concerns and left the Corvettes unstable.Anger at Shinra, from dragging on this war with Wutai that seemed to be about little more than materia and the never-ending pursuit of profit. Anger at herself, for not preparing Cloud and Zack and all of them better for what they might encounter in the heavens.

“It’s not fine,”Tifa flashed, containing the rising rage and grief that was bubbling in her throat like lava.“It is okay to be angry, or sad, Cloud.None of us expected this.We all miss Zack a great deal, but I only can imagine how you must feel.”

Cloud grit his teeth, shaking his head, still not looking at her, failing to reply.

Tifa defied the inclinations that were scraping at her brain, telling her to back off, and let her hand fall between his knees, carefully capturing his hand that hung there with hers.She squeezed it gently, and watched Cloud’s face, seeing the glow in his eyes flicker as he looked down at her long, slender fingers.

“It isn’t your fault,” she said finally, and the words caused him to recoil, tearing his hand from hers, angling his body away from hers on the couch, leaning back against it.

“Hmph,”he scoffed, still not looking back at her.“The investigation will determine that.”

Tifa shook her head, the tears were burning their ways out of the corners of her eyes, summoned by her fury at his casual denial, his nonchalant dismissal.“Cloud, I watched the entire thing from the command center.You did nothing wrong.In fact, you saved your comrades.You took out two _Ueno_ with one materia missile.It is unheard of.No one has ever done that before.”

She saw his eyes waver, saw him glance up at the ceiling in distress.

“I spoke to Jessie,” she pressed on, leaning forward, trying desperately to close the physical gap between them.“She is certain that the Huge Materia overpowered Zack’s engines, causing the explosion.She tried to warn the executives about it before the mission.Cloud, Zack was the only one to use his materia turrets more than once.He fired multiple times.It clearly overwhelmed the Corvette’s systems.It’s Shinra’s fault.It’s _our_ fault.”

Cloud scowled, emitting a low growl deep in his throat as he sat up again, anxiety a thick bubble around him. 

Tifa became desperate, as the walls of his defenses hardening and steeling with every passing second.“Cloud, I’m scared,” she told him, vulnerability spilling out of her like sand, and her hands dropped again to find his, grasping them with a fierce urgency that was new. “Everything feels different now, and I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.”

Cloud turned to her at that, his eyes widening with some realization that could not be articulated.She stared into his blue depths, lost in a new cyclone of his emotions, this one angry and hurt and guilt-ridden and full of self-loathing.His mouth twitched as if he were going to respond, but then his hand slipped away from hers, and he sank back against the couch.

“I just.. I just need some time to think, Tifa.That’s all.” He glanced at the door as he said this, and Tifa bristled as she absorbed his meaning, a bucket of ice water crashing over her.

“I understand,” she managed finally in response, her throat thick with hesitation.She gathered her purse closer to her, and felt her legs quivering as she pushed carefully to her feet.

“I’ll call you,”Cloud dismissed her.

Tifa chanced a glance back at his somber, dispassionate expression, before crossing the room and leaving his apartment, feeling something important fall apart and shatter as she closed the door in her wake.

Cloud did not call her.

* * *

It was a few days later when Cid paid an unannounced visit to Tifa in her office in the Research building, looking as if he had not shaved since the mission against Wutai, almost two weeks ago.She had been pouring over the final mission debrief and the notes Jessie had scrawled in the margins concerning the Huge Materia.She heard him knock at the door before he poked his head in, his face tired and shorn as if he had not slept in weeks.

“Hey, Doc,” he started gently, then slid inside the office as she closed the briefing.He was holding a folder of his own in one hand.“Sorry to bother you, but I figured you’d want to hear ‘bout this.”She watched him as he slid into the chair across from her desk, dropping the folder on the wood in front of her.

_CLASSIFIED_.

“The court martial reviewed the committee’s findings in the investigation, and this morning, they made their decision.”He tapped the red folder on her desk.“Of course, as I suspected, they cleared Strife of any wrongdoing or involvement.Turns out the weapons department - what’s that girl’s name again?Turns out they determined that the jet self-destructed from overheating and an internal combustion triggered by the instability of the Huge Materia.”Cid shook his head ruefully, emitting a low, cheerless chuckle.“Turns out this whole shitshow could’ve been avoided the entire time, if we’d been better at our fuckin’ jobs.”

Tifa let out a breath, thinking instantly of Cloud.“Does he know?”Tifa suddenly began to feel a faint glimmer of hope creep around the edges of her heart.If Cloud knew that he was not responsible for Zack’s death, that he had been officially cleared, that his actions in the air had been justifiable, that the wicked turn of events were somehow at the cruel crux of fate and human failure, he might be able to begin to heal.

She watched a dark look mar Cid’s already overcast features.“That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about, Lockhart.I know you and Strife are close.”

Tifa waited, refusing to comment on his observation.

The Captain sighed.“Look, Tifa - I don’t know how to say this, and I hope whatever you do know, however you feel about him - that maybe you can help.But - Strife… he’s gone AWOL.Been gone for the last two days.”

The hopefulness that was clinging to her heartstrings dissipated instantly, fading away into the darkness, gone forever.

_AWOL._

“What do you mean?” she asked Cid stupidly.

Cid sat up and shook his head.“So I’m guessin’ you didn’t know.Listen, Tifa. He abandoned his post and we haven’t been able to locate him since.No responses to any outreach.He was officially labeled AWOL last night.”

The crushing weight centered itself on Tifa’s chest, pinning her to her chair.Cid was asking her if she knew any way to reach him.But Tifa was not thinking about Cid, or AVIATOR, or Shinra or Cloud’s goddamn post.

_He left me._

“I don’t know where he is,” she finally responded in a measured tone.

Cid’s expression softened considerably at that, as if he understood the stakes of Tifa’s heart, as if he detected the grinding pain and loss stabbing its way through her.He offered her an empathetic smile, before he rose to his feet, leaving the folder on her desk.

“Alright now.If I learn anything, I’ll be sure to give you a holler.If you hear from that spiky-headed sonnavabitch, you give me a call, alright?”

Tifa nodded, watching as Cid walked silently out of her office.All that night, she tried to call and text Cloud, encountering his voicemail and leaving it with desperate, pleading messages until the inbox was full.

But Cloud never answered, and he never called her back.


	4. Mighty Wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are finally at the end. I hope everyone enjoys the resolution. Thanks for sticking with this to the end.
> 
> This chapter takes its title from the Cheap Trick song, "Mighty Wings."

CHAPTER FOUR

Mighty Wings

* * *

“Tifa?Can I come in?”

Tifa looked up slightly, seeing Jessie standing in the doorframe of her office, holding a stack of red folders in one arm.She cocked her head to the side, nodding towards the chair across from her, watching as the redhead quietly closed the door behind her and strode into the room to take a seat across from her.

It was the middle of December.Just over three months had passed since AVIATOR’s mission to protect Rocket Town, since Zack Fair had been killed by Shinra’s own negligence, since Cloud Strife had gone AWOL, believing the catastrophe his fault.

Just over three months since he’d abandoned her, after everything she thought they had built in their time together that summer. 

Tifa had left Shinra’s Minerva Naval Base sometime in September, after _Project Mighty Wings_ began to fall apart, losing its traction after the mission against Wutai.When the aerial commission determined that the loss of Zack and his aircraft had been a result of faulty equipment and overtaxed engines thanks to the Huge Materia, a scandal had erupted within Shinra.Scarlet had tried to bury any evidence that her department had anything to do with the malfunctions, letting the heat fall below on her underlings, including Jessie, who had handled the entire ordeal badly, taking more and more of the blame for the failures on herself.Heiddegar had sought fit to place the blame on Cid, which had caused outbursts, tirades, and invective that had been violent to witness.None of this was helped by the fact that the mako effects had impacted some pilots awfully by then, resulting in such incapacitation that at least a handful of them had to be discharged back to their families for long-term care.

In the end, Rufus had pulled the plug on the project, and Tifa had been sent back to Midgar to resume her work on the engineering program before the month’s end.

It was a bittersweet departure.After Cloud’s disappearance, Tifa had held on to the hope that he would return, that she might get some late-night, obscure phone call from him, or that he would suddenly appear at her base apartment, appearing mournful.He had said he would call her.All he needed was a little space, she knew.He had just seen his best friend killed in action in front of his eyes.He had thought he was responsible.Tifa had kept her hopes up for weeks, until the day the notice came from Midgar that Rufus was ending the Project, and that she would be heading back across the world to resume her usual work. She held on to that hope until the very last moment when she tore away from the base, waiting for the chopper to airlift her and Jessie and their things, and bring them back to the big city she had not seen in months.She could still not shake the image of Cid standing on the tarp as she climbed into the helicopter, a plume of smoke lifting skywards from his cigarette, his hands planted on his hips as he shook his head ruefully in the wind.

Cloud never called, and eventually, his phone line stopped working. Her body ached for him, her heart bled, her mind was torn apart. The void and the emptiness his abrupt absence left in her was devastating, leaving a gaping hole of loss deep inside of her.

Tifa sighed, glancing over at Jessie, who looked like she’d aged five years in the time since the mission in late August.Tifa shook Cloud from her mind momentarily, a difficult task, and gave her friend and colleague her full attention.

“Everything alright?” she asked cautiously.

Jessie let out a little sigh, dropping the folders on her desk.“Tifa, I don’t know.There’s - I’ve been hearing some rumors, lately.”

Jessie fell silent, and Tifa cocked an eyebrow up at her, waiting for her to continue.Sighing, Jessie shook her head and ran the fingertips of her right hand across her temple.

“Okay, but this stays here.I overheard a few things I probably shouldn’t have, and I think something big is going to happen.It sounds like things are getting really nasty in Wutai with SOLDIER, and that there may be a domestic attack.”

Tifa’s eyes widened at that.“Domestic?”

Jessie nodded, chewing her bottom lip slightly.“Yes - on a city or province controlled by Shinra.It doesn’t seem like there is much intelligence beyond that, not yet anyway.”

Tifa sighed, lowering her eyes to the aircraft manuals in front of her, feeling something weary run through her bones.

“Tifa, please don’t say anything,” Jessie begged, picking up her folders again.“I don’t want -”

Tifa held up a hand, shaking her head.“I won’t, Jessie.I just -“She glanced down at her PHS.A text from Aerith had lit up the screen. 

Tifa read it without picking it up, then took in a breath before letting her claret eyes fall back to Jessie.“Just promise me you’ll keep me posted if you hear anything else, okay?I won’t say anything to anyone, don’t worry.” 

“Of course.”Jessie was at her feet, smiling saplessly. 

“I’ve got to get going,” Tifa nodded, pushing herself to her feet as well, gathering her PHS and shuffling the papers on her desk, while Jessie nodded and made for the door.

“See ya, Teef.”

Tifa collected herself, pulling on her coat and gathering her laptop and some work to take home into her briefcase, Jessie’s warning heavy on her heart.The idea that Wutai would be able to attack Midgar, Shinra’s capital city and the largest metropolis on earth, was beyond unimaginable.The fact that the information was still under tight classification did nothing to assuage her concerns or fears.

Tifa shrugged her bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the office, glancing down at Aerith’s text as she walked toward the elevators.Shortly after Zack’s death, Aerith had moved with the twins into the home of her adoptive mother Elmyra, in the Sector5 slums. Tifa had kept in constant contact with the young florist, speaking to her via phone and exchanging text messages with her regularly, even before Tifa left the Minerva Naval Base near Rocket Town.Aerith, as popular and well-liked as she was back home in Sector5, did not really have very many close friends, and Tifa did not either for that matter, aside from Jessie.The two had forged a bond before the tragedy that had torn both their loves away from them, Aerith’s through death and Tifa’s through grief and sorrow, and after, their friendship had only grown as they leaned on one another as pillars of support.

Tifa reread the text message in the elevator, then put her PHS back in her pocket and waited until she reached the ground floor to depart the Shinra Building for the weekend.Aerith had invited her over for dinner, adding a little side text with a flower and a heart face, that she was hoping Tifa was up for talking.Tifa quickly replied: _Of course, I’m on my way_ , and made her way through the busy streets in front of the Shinra Building for the trains.

It was the rush hour, and Tifa had to strain against the throng of passengers making their ways to the trains, her exhaustion creeping into her bones and setting her jaw with annoyance every time she felt an elbow jar her or a shoulder miff her out of the way.After waiting on the concrete platform for a while, the train for the Sector5 Undercity came into view, its sleek black nose cutting through the crisp December air, gray lines and twinkling lights and leaden smoke pluming into the air under the glow of the mako lamps of the station. The car was already packed, leaving standing room only, and Tifa found a spot near one of the doors, facing to turn and look out of the window, dark crimson eyes scanning the platform, the slick lines of the Shinra Building in the distance overhead, the dark brickwork of the nearby ancillary complexes that lined Sector0 standing sentinel to the sides.

Tifa heard the feminine, automatic drone of directions on the loudspeaker overhead, announcing upcoming stops and the impending ID scan. _Stand clear of the closing doors, please.ID Scan Imminent_. _Sector5 Undercity next._ Tifa sighed and made sure the lanyard with her ID badge hanging from it was visible across the front of her downy puffer coat, and she did her best to remain upright without leaning against the sticky walls of the train as it jolted and moved along the tracks.

Outside, the landscape began to shift, the grade of the train careening as it moved into a downward pitch along the spiraling tracks of Midgar’s core pillar.Although she lived on the upper plate, Tifa had spent plenty of time in the Undercity, and was familiar with its stark differences from the Top.She watched as the grime began to filter over the metallic of the cityscapes, as the graffiti began to appear, as the decay became evident with the train’s descent.The car grew dark, and a red light flashed and whirred over them, collecting evidence that they were properly warranted to be on this train.

Tifa let her eyes drift shut for just a few moments, listening to the droning voice overhead until she heard it announce arrival at Sector5 Undercity.Collecting herself as the lights began to flash a multitude of colors overhead, she pushed her way through the crowd onto the dusty concrete platform of the Sector5 station.

Tifa’s senses were instantly assailed by the stark differences from above the plate.The odor was the first thing that greeted her.Topside, the air was usually crisp and fresh, aside from the faint hint of mako in the air from the reactors, or the cough of exhaust from an automobile.But down here, the air was thick and stale, rank even, choked by the scents of decaying mako waste that pooled in the bellies of the reactors, of the garbage and scraps that lined the roadways.There was little ventilation, with the plates above trapping everything beneath them.After spending any amount of time Topside, coming down to the slums was staggering.

Tifa made her way from the train and away from the crowd of people, practically gasping for air once she was free to move without another’s shoulders pressed against hers.She absently regarded the unpaved road beneath her booted feet, wondering why Shinra couldn’t be pressed to at least asphalt these roads the way they did Topside.Only when she approached a massive jumbo-tron, surrounded by another large group of people, did she snap out of her lazy thoughts and glance upwards.

“Developments are still underway, but it has been determined that SOLDIER has sustained serious casualties in a recent clash in Wutai’s Hoikada Prefecture, near the North Eastern coastline.It has been reported that General Sephiroth is now directly engaging in battle to scale the onslaught back.”

As the reporter on screen continued to deadpan the report, gasps reverberated through the crowd watching the screen, giving Tifa the eerie sense that she was participating in some bizarre spectator sport.SOLDIER losing ground in the war tickled her earlier conversation with Jessie, igniting her nerves and sending the lines of her teeth together. She turned away and made her way through the dusty roads, pushing past street vendors and dilapidated buildings fixtured together from scrap, making her way towards Aerith’s family home in the very far recesses of the slum.

Elmyra’s home was a small wonder within the slums, and Tifa couldn’t help but wonder how the woman had acquired this amount of property, especially property that seemed to kiss one of the few slots of available sunlight under the plate.Though one thing she was not doubtful of was the abundance of flora that bloomed on the estate, flowers of every shape and color, vegetation Tifa knew was completely wild but had no idea what its actual use was. Aerith had cultivated all of these plants and flowers, just as she had cultivated the flowers that grew on the cliffside of the shores near the naval dock on the base near Rocket Town.

Tifa felt a physical stab of pain in her heart when that thought passed by her.

The bubbles of a babbling brook and the chirp of cicadas were the only sounds to comfort her as she stepped along the cobblestone steps towards Aerith’s house, her boots clicking lightly against the stone.Bracing herself, she raised a fist to knock, but the door swung open before she could do so. 

“Tifa!” Despite the cold December air that permeated thick even in the slums, Aerith’s voice, her bright, radiant smile, her entire countenance, enveloped Tifa with a warmth she hadn’t felt in eons.Despite the cheer, Tifa could read the transparent sadness behind Aerith’s dark green eyes.Suddenly overcome by a mix of emotions, Tifa reacted the only way her body dictated, wrapping her arms around Aerith and holding her close.

Aerith gasped delightfully and hugged Tifa back instantly, her voice choking before breaking away into a laugh that was mangled by a hidden sob.“Oh Tifa, I’m so glad you could make it tonight.Mom made an entire roast chicken, and the boys have been asking about you!”

Tifa let Aerith pull her into the home, which was inviting and warm, all deep cherry wood and jubilant wallpaper of orange and red, plants leaning into every window.She spotted Elmyra standing over the stove to the far right corner by the bow windows, and as Aerith shut the door behind her, the older woman turned to them, wiping her hands on her apron.

“Why, Tifa, so nice of you to come by.Aerith was hoping you could make it.”

Tifa returned her smile, hearing the gleeful laughter of the boys erupt in front of her.They were both in their booster seats at the kitchen table, both dark-haired, one with blue eyes and one with green, both with fat cheeks and arms and fingers that prodded playfully at one another across the table.Essai - the one with the green eyes, Tifa knew, was the first to notice her entrance and turn to look at her, his wide eyes expanding as he chanced a careful smile at her.Sebastian soon followed suit.

Tifa felt her heart melt, a ray of happiness shine over her for the first time in weeks.

Following Aerith, Tifa shed her coat and sat at the table to join the small family.Elmyra’s meal was filling, and Aerith even broke out a bottle of white wine, earning a caustic eyebrow raise from her mother.While the boys fussed over their meal,Tifa let her guard down and listened to Aerith describe her work at the Leaf House, a local orphanage where she was volunteering a lot of her time in some of the classrooms, while also supplying the building with flowers and plants.She listened as Aerith described how harrisome it was to sell flowers Topside, the struggles she faced with bringing a single basket and then trying to find interested people to buy lilies and carnations.At the word lily, Tifa felt her heart crunch, a memory of her first kiss with Cloud passing over her like a flame. When Aerith mentioned the time a young Zack had brought her a flower cart when they first started dating, before he became an AVIATOR,Tifa felt another part of her heart crackle and fall apart, broken.

When Aerith and Elmyra began to clear the table, Tifa rose to her feet to help, bringing her dish to the small sink under the window.Elmyra shooed them both away, telling Aerith to tend to the boys, and Tifa followed her friend, dressed all in pale pink, and lifted Essai out of his booster, following behind Aerith, who carried Sebastian up the stairs, both boys protesting through wrangling limbs and bright, sharp little cries.

It was sometime later, the sun long gone, when they were finally asleep in their beds upstairs.Tifa was sitting on the yellow throw rug in the center of the floor, her legs folded under her, watching the boys as their tiny chests rose and fell with breath as they slept.Aerith sat in the wooden rocking chair beside the bed, watching them with a serene look on her face.Hearing their snores, Tifa wiped her hands together and then leaned back on them across the carpet, letting her arms stretch. 

Aerith looked up, her emerald irises glassy.She rose slowly, then extended a wrist bracered in copper and silver bangles to Tifa.

“Let’s go up to the attic for a while and talk, hm?They’ll be fine, and mom can hear everything through these walls.”

Tifa nodded, accepting Aerith’s outstretched hand, and let her pull her to her feet.She watched Aerith’s waves of chestnut brown hair, now unbraided, cascade over her shoulder as she bent down to press light kisses to Essai and Sebastian’s cheeks, before she followed Aerith’s slender figure out of the bedroom, up the stairs to the attic.

Aerith pushed open the door to the small verandah, and stepped outside, immediately wrapping her arms around herself against the cold winter air.She was wearing a thin, cotton pink dress with long sleeves, but the material was too flimsy to shield against the chill.Tifa felt the air sting her as well as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

From where they stood, Tifa could see the entire property, and she was once again awestruck, her breath robbed from her lungs.Beside a small waterfall that cascaded from somewhere above the plate, flora flourished everywhere.Tifa made note of the multitudes of colors of flowers that were spread in the understory below, their hues amplified by a sliver of moonlight that tore through a large crack in a broken portion of the plate above.

She turned to Aerith, who was silent, staring at the waterfall, arms still snug around her body.Tifa started to open her mouth to speak, but just as her lips were parting, Aerith’s sing-song voice, suddenly leaden with regret and loss, was in the air.

“It’s just like his eyes,” she sighed into the wind.

“Hm?” Tifa queried, taking a step closer to her friend, letting her eyes follow Aerith’s to where they fell on the stream.

“The waterfall,” Aerith sniffed.“It’s so… blue, under the moon.A very light, but bright blue, you know.It reminds me of Zack’s eyes.”

Tifa resisted the urge to reach out and grab her, to hug her tight, but didn’t want to be awkward, and instead nodded her head calmly.

“I miss him,” Aerith said then, her voice a crack.

Tifa threw caution to the wind and acted on impulse, pressing forward and wrapping her arms tight around Aerith.As soon as she felt the contact, Aerith gasped out a sob, then turned inward towards Tifa, throttling her open palms against Tifa’s clavicle, dipping her head down into her chest as she let her hold her, sobs etching their way out smoothly and freely into the night.Tifa inhaled deeply and tightened her hold, resting her chin in the nest of Aerith’s soft brown hair.

“I know,” was all Tifa could manage.

It went on for a bit like that, until Aerith was able to release all of what was pent up inside, sequestered by forced smiles and her unwavering care of others. When she steadied, Tifa let her arms drop to her sides, falling away from Aerith’s shoulders tentatively, as if she were afraid she might fall apart in front of her if she loosened her grip.Aerith carefully backed a step away, wiping at her eyes with her knuckles as she faced the waterfall again.

“Thank you, Tifa.I haven’t cried like that since the day it happened.Everything has moved so fast, and ever since I returned to Midgar, there’s been no time for me to look back.Everything has been about the twins, and about my mom, and about the people here - about being _normal_.I hate it, sometimes, Tifa.”

“I understand, Aerith.At least, I think I do, even if just a little bit.”

Tifa’s voice was a sharp contrast in the night air to Aerith’s.Her voice was husky and mellow, sliding through the night, while Aerith’s was bright and sharp, cutting the air in half.But their cadences were the same: mourning, loss, contrition.

Aerith seemed to consider this, bobbing her head silently for long paces of moments.Tifa couldn’t think of any way to continue the conversation, so she let them both wallow in unspoken sorrow.

After a small eternity, Aerith turned away from the waterfall to look at Tifa, her verdant eyes encapsulated by the moonlight, shining at Tifa. 

“Tifa, what happened to Cloud?” she asked, her voice very small.

Tifa felt as if she had been shot.

Silence lingered, but Aerith didn’t press, her searching eyes on Tifa’s face doing the talking.After long moments, Tifa sighed in resignation, slapping her face into her palms.

“Aerith, he _disappeared._ ” She told her.“I still haven’t heard from him.I tried calling, like you said, but his phone number no longer works.”Tifa felt a stabbing pain in her throat as she spoke, as if she’d swallowed knives. “I don’t know what to do anymore!Why did he leave me?”

Tifa instantly felt selfish and angry at herself when the words crumbled their way from her lips.Why was she turning this into her agony over Cloud’s desertion of her?She knew he was not in a good place when they’d last parted.She should treat it as if it were any breakup; the circumstances were simply what they were, and she needed to accept them.They had only been dating for a couple of months.And this was about Aerith, who had lost her _husband_ , and had lost him for life.

“I’m sorry,” Tifa choked, and realized with belated horror that she too was now sobbing.

“Don’t be,” Aerith said instantly, her hand on Tifa’s arm, soft but firm, radiating warmth.“Tifa, you have every reason to be upset.I know Cloud was devastated by… by Zack’s death.He was almost as close to him as I was.”

These words tore Tifa apart just a little bit more.

“But… Tifa, I know things.Just like I knew the exact moment Zack went into the Lifestream… I know that you and Cloud love each other.I know that you are meant for each other.I know that you belong together.Tifa… if you don’t find him…”

Tifa turned away, clawing at the flesh of her cheeks.But she felt Aerith’s warmth draw closer, felt her hand slide up her arm to her shoulder, pulling her back to her.

“Tifa, I can’t tell you what to do, or how to live your life.I am not a part of your relationship with Cloud, and I wasn’t there.But… I don’t want to see you sad like this anymore.And I don’t want you to live with any regrets.I want you to have every moment.You never know how short our time here really is.”

The words were laced with too much truth, too much finality, too much weight.Tifa looked up, pulling her hands away from where they shielded her tear-streaked face, and let her dark crimson eyes meld with Aerith’s pools of shamrock. Aerith was looking at her expectantly.

“You have to follow your heart, Tifa,” Aerith ventured.

Tifa fell forward, and it was Aerith’s turn to hold her back.Taller than she, Tifa felt awkward and oafish, nearly tumbling the girl backward.But Aerith was strong, and held her as she sobbed.

Stronger than Tifa had ever known before that moment.

Seconds passed, and Tifa collected herself, pulling back and hastily rubbing the wetness at her eyes.Aerith watched her face with great concern, her eyes searching, darting in their sockets.Tifa nodded at her reassuringly, a decision suddenly forming behind her eyes.

“Thank you, Aerith.I know what I have to do.”

Aerith beamed at that, her own tears forgotten. 

As Aerith turned again to admire the waterfall that crashed gently in the distance ahead,Tifa felt her mind resolve through the pain and the disappointment that had built a fortress in her heart.

She had to find Cloud, if for no other reason than to bring closure.

* * *

Dark plumes of smoke were rising into the air, melding into a tangy, heady scent that was perfumed into the air of Destiny’s Rapture, a small but somewhat exclusive bar Topside in Sector8.Waitresses swathed in short but ritzy black dresses passed through its tight corridors, carefully balancing drinks on circular trays.The lighting was low enough to keep things discreet, but not appear seedy like some slum dive.A gentle jazz tune marooned from the jukebox up front, the crooner lamenting how he had left his one true love for Midgar.

It was a Tuesday night, and Cloud sat alone at the farthest corner of the bar, his eyes averted from anyone who might glance at him too long.The massive Fusion sword strapped to his back were likely responsible for deterring onlookers, he had figured, which was why he had taken to carrying it everywhere he went these days. He looked down into his glass, his third of the bitter, amber stuff since he’d arrived an hour ago.

He felt a dull pulsing at his temple, but he ignored it, actually relishing in the fact that it was much weaker than it had been hours ago.Alcohol was one of the few things that numbed the raging mako headaches he was now getting daily, keeping him from enjoying or executing simple daily tasks.Over the last several months, refusing to see a doctor and expose himself to the possibility that Shinra might locate him, the ex-AVIATOR continued to self-medicate in order to keep from dealing with the fact that his brain was being addled by mako.As long as he could keep drawing gil by taking up small, odd jobs mostly in the slums, he could keep on living, day by day.

And drinking, day by day.

_This isn’t living_ , a voice in the back of his head prodded, and Cloud took another swig of the distasteful yellow drink, punishing himself by drinking the ugliest whiskey they had to offer.Melancholy, the alcohol stinging his memories, Cloud let his palm slide into the pocket of his jacket, producing a small charm that glistened under the bar’s tranquil skylights.

A small blue dolphin, carved in crystal.

Cloud stared at it, his vision slightly blurred, not from the booze but from a lack of focus as his mind drifted elsewhere.He was suddenly warmed all over by the vision of long, dark hair that felt like silk, of pale, creamy flesh that was as soft as buttercream, of red lips that pressed like velvet.His gloved hand clasped around the charm, its rougher edges digging into his palm.

_What have I done?_ Cloud thought for the thousandth time in a hundred days.

It was no use haranguing himself over it again, part of him thought.He’d made a terrible decision, one that was solidified by the stretches of time and by the agony of his inaction.He’d ruined everything between him and Tifa, and there was no way he could imagine repairing it, no way no matter how many hundreds of scenarios he turned over in his head.

He’d ruined everything with the woman he’d loved more than the breath that kept him alive; he’d broken her heart and destroyed everything with his weakness.

He slipped the dolphin back into his pocket as the bartender sauntered over, an attractive woman with gold hair.She eyed him carefully; she knew he was a regular who was the type to get quietly plastered before meandering his way out into the midnight.Wordlessly, she lifted a bottle and refilled his glass.

Cloud accepted it, lifting the tumbler, and drank.

He felt a fresh rush of alcohol dull his senses, needling its way into his veins and beating back the headache that threatened his skull.Satisfied with that initial sip, Cloud slid a palm into his pocket again and this time retrieved a cluster of aluminum.

He unfurled his palm and stared his murky blue eyes down on Zack’s dog tags, still their gleaming silver, still linked to the chain that had held it around his best friend’s neck. _Zachary Fair_ , underscored by his birthdate, screamed up at him from where it had been branded into the metal.Cloud closed his eyes and let an image of the sky fall around him, the canopy of his warplane above him, Zack’s voice crisp in his headset.

_“RASCAL, over and out.”_

Cloud cursed at himself and shoved the dog tags back away into his pocket, bringing the glass to his lips again to erase the pain that now not only ebbed at his forehead but also in his heart.

Long moments passed as Cloud brooded like that, slowly but surely draining the whiskey before the bartender returned and offered him his fifth.As she was pouring, Cloud heard a familiar drawl beside him.

“Yeah, I ‘ll take a Hagur’s reserve, neat.And keep the tab open, sweetheart.I’ll be here for a little bit.”

Cloud froze where he sat, not daring to look up or turn.He knew that voice anywhere.

“Alright, now goddamnit, where’s my lighter - Oh, there you are. Bout time you can find a decent establishment in this town that still lets you have a good smoke.Goddamn sissy liberals, whining about every goddamn thing, if you don’t like the smoke then go sit your ass somewhere else, I always say.Right, son?”

Cloud felt the eyes on him then, and he couldn’t stop himself from chancing a glance upwards and looking at the man, whose eyes instantly widened in shock when he realized who he was casually commenting towards.

“What the fuck - Strife!”Cid’s voice boomed so loudly, the bartender jerked violently, almost spilling a bit of whiskey as she poured behind the counter.Cid whirled on his barstool, openly facing Cloud.

“The hell you doin’ here, boy?”

Cloud was instantly irritated.There were numerous reasons for him to be so.Cid, with his brashness and lack of decorum or filter, was the last person he was in the mood to deal with right now.Then there were the very real implications of him being discovered by Shinra after going AWOL three months ago.Cid was his immediate superior.If anyone was going to turn him in, it would be Cid.

“What of it,” he snarked in response.

Cid made an ugly face, his stubble crinkling against his chin as he frowned.“Strife, you got to be shittin’ me right now.You been AWOL for the past ninety days.I been worried sick about your stupid ass.”

Cloud shrugged, staring back at his tumbler, refusing to engage.

“Aw, hell naw you don’t.” Cid was shuffling, moving from his barstool two seats down to the one right beside Cloud.He was instantly reproached by this invasion of his personal space, leaning back away from Cid until his shoulder hit the smooth marble of the wall.

“Where the hell you been?” Cid demanded, his breath fragrant with menthol.Cloud tried desperately to cringe away further into the wall, but there was nowhere to go.His eyes glanced at the front door, mapping out an escape plan.

Cid wasn’t waiting for an answer.His open, gloved palm slammed the counter with fury.

“Goddamnit!” he thundered, and the bartender came over at once, leaning towards him.

“Sir,” she chastised, and Cid bristled as she set his drink in front of him.He offered her a cursory nod before accepting the glass and turning back to Cloud.

“I ain’t moving til your shit-for-brains ass talks.”

Cloud sighed heavily, resignedly, knowing there were no outs to the situation he found himself caged in.The best way was to face it head-on and hopefully buy himself a way out of trouble with Shinra.

“Listen, Captain - I’m done,”Cloud’s tone was short, clipped.“There’s nothing left for me in AVIATOR, in Shinra.It was all just a bad dream.”

Cid chuckled ruefully, taking back his drink and downing half of it, wincing from the alcohol’s sharp bite before he slammed the tumbler down and then reached for a cigarette from the pack that was tucked under the goggles that rest on his forehead.He lit the stick before he spoke, and Cloud watched as the thick, gray smoke drifted skyward around him.

“What a bunch of horseshit,” Cid commented, his pale blue eyes connecting directly with Cloud’s.He took a long drag on the cigarette before blowing its remnants out of both his mouth and nose simultaneously, leaving Cloud somewhat bewildered.“You act like you’re the first sonnavabitch to lose a comrade in battle.”

Cloud stiffened at that, turning back to his drink, taking another long sip.Zack’s grinning face, chin marred by an uneven scar, hair slicked back with spikes, eyes a hazier blue than his own, flashed in his mind’s eye.Cloud winced inwardly at the intrusive memory, and tried desperately to push it back to the farthest recesses of his brain.

Cid scoffed, earning his attention again.“Cloud, when I was young, a new AVIATOR - oh, I’d say this was about twenty years ago - I killed my wingman in action.”

Cloud froze, jarred slightly by the admission.He set his tumbler down, its soft clink on the gleaming marble of the bar’s countertop seeming far too loud.He turned to face Cid, but said nothing, knowing the Captain would continue without prompting.

“Yeah, I shot him out of the sky, friendly fire.It was an accident, but I was being careless, I was showboating, my superiors liked to call it.”Cid’s voice had softened, lost some of its brutish edge, its drawl slowing to a crawl.He took another long drag on his cigarette, fingering the rim of his glass with his gloved fingertip.A smooth silence passed between them as Cloud considered his words.

“And?” Cloud finally prompted, both intrigued and annoyed.

“Well, you already know, investigation, blah blah.Yeah, I made a big mistake, a costly one, and it almost cost me my wings.But you know something, dipshit?I faced the music like a man.I stood in front of that investigatory committee and let them read me the riot act.And then I went on, ‘cause I knew I was the best goddamn AVIATOR that was ever gonna live, and I knew Nick would forgive me, would want me to keep on livin’ in the sky.”

Cloud took a deep breath, feeling something unsettle inside of him.

“Nick had a girlfriend,” Cid continued after taking another pull on his whiskey.“I don’t know how serious they were, we were so young back then.Anyway, I ended up givin’ her his dog tags.I just couldn’t carry them around anymore.They were keeping me anchored to the earth, and I needed to get back up into the sky.”

Silence passed between them for long moments as Cloud considered Cid’s words, trying to ignore their weight.He felt Zack’s dog tags burn a hole in his pocket.

“Look here, Strife, I’m gonna be straight with you,” Cid was saying in the next moment, his intense stare on Cloud’s face, which was burning and eager to find refuge from this uncomfortable conversation.“There’s a few things I gotta say to you.One, you don’t abandon your post, jackass.You need to get your ass back in the saddle before Shinra catches you, it’ll be worse for you if you let it happen that way.”

“If I go back, no way Shinra lets me fly again,”Cloud groaned, staring directly into his drink.

“We’ll see about that,” Cid responded cryptically.“Strife, the Wutai war is gettin’ uglier by the day,Kisaragi is holdin’ nothing back to keep Rufus out of his capital.Something big is gonna happen soon, and we need every top AVIATOR we can get.”

Cloud groaned, feeling pained at these words.

“The second thing, I know all about the mako side effects.Reno and Rude have been getting headaches for weeks.Only thing that keeps ‘em under control are meds.Are you getting that looked at?Don’t lie to me, Strife.”

Cloud turned back to face him, ignoring the question completely.“And what was the other thing?” he asked tersely.

Cid sat back, the corner of his lip slashing across his teeth as it turned up into a smirk.“I think you already know, my friend.”

“I don’t,” Cloud responded darkly.

Cid muttered a curse under his breath and brought his drink back to his lips.“Alright.I guess you don’t, you always been thick as a rock.It’s about Tifa.”

Cloud felt his heart tighten and clench, and now the dolphin was flipping in his pocket.

“You leaving AVIATOR may be a thing of honor.But what you did to Tifa… that’s even worse than losing your honor.That’s… losing a part of yourself.”

Cloud felt the mako headache begin its aching tempo once again on the sides of his head.He winced it back, feeling the truth of Cid’s last words filter and disperse through him, raining on his insides.

When Cloud refused to respond, Cid made a clicking sound with his teeth, then smashed his cigarette into a nearby ashtray, killing the flame with a few dancing sparks.He quickly drained the last drops of his whiskey before slamming the glass down on the counter.

“Well, I’ve had about enough of this one-sided conversation.” He raised a palm in the air, grabbing the bartender’s attention with a few snaps of his fingers.Cloud watched through his peripheral as Cid paid the bartender for his drink and then collected himself as if ready to leave.

Before he departed, Cid turned back to Cloud. 

“You need to reach out to Tifa.She’s back here, in Midgar,” he informed him, leveling his eyes with Cloud’s as the younger man finally turned back to look at him.“I mean that.Tifa’s a great gal, and I ain’t with seeing her get hurt.”

Cloud felt himself nodding in agreement.

Cid was pulling out another cigarette and angling it in his mouth.“And when you’re ready to come back to us, you just give me a holler.”

Cid didn’t wait for a response.As quickly as he had appeared, he was making his way out of Destiny’s Rapture, Cloud trailing his dark blue AVIATOR bomber jacket as he disappeared into the winter evening outside.

Cloud turned back to his drink, the headache now swirling behind his eyes.

_AVIATOR._

_Mako._

_Tifa._

He closed his eyes and lowered his head, just as the bartender came over to pour his sixth.

* * *

Tifa was sitting on the foot of her bed, folding a clean pair of thigh highs into a neat roll as she put away her laundry.Her speakers were droning a melancholy piano melody, carrying her mood and her emotions through the room.

She was standing to tuck the garments into her dresser when her PHS began to ring.Glancing back at the bed, she reached for it and was perplexed instantly by the name that flashed on the caller ID.

“Captain Cid?”

“Doc,” Cid’s voice was rushed and out of breath.Tifa could hear the sounds of traffic in the background behind him.“I’m sorry to bother you at this hour.I need you to hightail it down to the midtown section of Sector8 right now, fancy place called Destiny’s Rapture.Need you to hurry, it’s important.Just head to the bar.”

Tifa shook her head, stunned, not comprehending.“I’m sorry, Highwind - a bar?What is this about?”

“I ain’t got all fuckin’ day to explain,” Cid howled, clearly exasperated.“Can you get your ass down here on the double?”

Tifa bristled at that.She knew that Cid Highwind had an infamously deplorable mouth, but thus far in their professional relationship, he had never used that sort of language directly at her.

“Cid, I’ll have you know - “

“Please, Tifa, goddamn. I swear you kids are all thick as a herd of chocobos.”

Tifa had no idea what that meant, but she was needled enough by the conversation to be both completely annoyed and compellingly intrigued. She thought about her conversation with Jessie earlier that week, and chewed her bottom lip cautiously. She sighed into her device.

“Fine, I’ll meet you there.Is this about AVIATOR?”

“See you in a bit.Sector8, midtown, Topside, at the bar.”

The line went dead, and Tifa stared down at her device in astonishment, before tossing it aside with annoyance to find something to wear.

Not long thereafter, Tifa’s hands were deep in the pockets of her down jacket, which huddled her close against the harsh December air.The wind was blowing wildly tonight, unlike down in the slums, where fresh air was a hotly sought commodity.Here, she fought against the wind, her cheeks stinging with pain against the cold, her fingertips numbing even where she curled them in her pockets.

It was a Tuesday night, so the streets of Sector8 Topside were threadbare of people.She passed a few souls as she meandered her way down the midtown roads, the hazy mako street lamps casting wide, warm glows on the asphalt and the concrete. Tifa took a moment to check the map on her PHS, noting to make a right at the next block.Destiny’s Rapture should just be a few steps away in that direction.

She was still perturbed by Cid’s hasty and uninformative phone call.She’d dressed quickly in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a navy blue pullover sweater, the closest things she could find.It was after ten PM, and Tifa had no intention of going anywhere that evening.In fact, she had been content to go straight away to bed after taking care of some household chores.Any time not spent working on something had Tifa’s mind delving into all sorts of uncomfortable scenarios and memories, and the time was honestly spent better sleeping. 

She rounded the corner, her breath expelling tiny puffs of white air into the night, and she quickly spotted the blue and red neon sign for Destiny’s Rapture up ahead.Inhaling, Tifa quickened her stride as she made her way to the bar.

And that was when he stepped out onto the sidewalk, pulling the lapels of his black bomber jacket, his wispy yellow hair fluttering gently against the cold winter’s breeze. 

_Cloud._

He stopped, facing the other side of the street, looking around a bit aimlessly.She watched him as he fussed with the zipper of his jacket, taking uncharacteristically long to pull it up.Tifa wondered idly if he were drunk.

She froze, not sure what to do.The back of her mind pinpricked with thoughts of Cid’s phone call, but she couldn’t be pressed to consider if this was actually why he’d called her down here.Her mind was too consumed by the sudden appearance of Cloud standing just several feet away from her, all of her reasoned thinking completely ransacked by his presence.

As if aware of this, Cloud suddenly turned to face in her direction.Tifa felt herself go pale, even as the heat rose all throughout her body, repelling the cold night air violently.She saw his eyes widen with recognition, mako blue boring into her, and then he was striding towards her.

“Tifa?”

It was happening too fast.Everything was happening much too fast, and Tifa couldn’t remember taking a breath, or what her last thought was.It was just a moment later when Cloud was standing in front of her, invading her personal space with the strong scents of cedar and whiskey.His blue eyes were wild, the mako rim throbbing, his pupils searching hers as he stepped even closer to her, his hands suddenly on her waist, clutching her coat and pulling her in.

“Tifa, I’m so sorry.” He was sobbing.

He was also very drunk.

Tifa heard him repeat her name in intervals, and she realized belatedly that he had wrapped his arms around her back, and had dropped his face into her coat, begging for forgiveness into the smooth fabric.Tifa stumbled a bit against his weight, feeling a threatening cocktail of emotions besiege her.She could feel his warmth through their layers of clothing, and his grip around her was tight and strong, harkening back to so many pleasant embraces they’d shared during a better time. But he was frenzied and chaotic, no longer the perfect storm she had grown to lose herself in with abandon, but a vicious and raging typhoon that had no anchor in reasoning or reality.

“Cloud,” she called to him gently, then realized she had to get control of the situation.She glanced around, watching the cars that passed by on the road beside them, even as he continued to clutch her, now threading his fingers through her hair and pulling on it a little too hard.She didn’t rebuke him, instead let him grasp her, using all of the strength in her muscles to keep his weight from pitching forward and toppling them both to the concrete.Eventually, she caught sight of a yellow taxicab approach, and she stabbed her palm into the air, flagging it down and watching as it veered towards the curb.

“Okay, Cloud, it’s okay.Let’s just get in the cab, okay?” she urged, and he looked up at her, his eyes wet at the corners.He looked so much like the little boy she had barely remembered from Nibelheim, and the haziness of those tender memories suddenly focused with a sharp clarity, like the tightening of a camera lens.Tifa inhaled a breath as he pouted remorsefully at her, and she turned away from the inebriated intensity in his eyes, steering him toward the cab, pushing him in before she climbed in carefully behind him.

Across the street, Cid watched the entire thing unfold from under a street lamp, smoking a cigarette, a wild grin plastered on his face.

The ride to her apartment in Sector4 didn’t take long since the roads were clear of traffic due to the late hour.Cloud had passed out in the cab, almost instantly sedated by the gentle careening of the vehicle across the smooth roads.His silence and stillness gave Tifa the perfect opportunity to think about the incredible predicament she now faced.Cloud’s behavior had been quite shocking, but he was drunk, so Tifa could not take it at face value.Though she did know that people revealed their true selves under the intoxication of drink.This thought poked her incessantly.

She found herself looking down at his peaceful, serene pale face where he slumped against the backseat of the cab.Such a boy.Such a handsome boy, features so delicate, lashes almost feminine, dustings of pallid pink freckles across his nose and cheeks that were so faint they were almost missable.Tifa felt an uncontrollable urge to reach out and caress his face.

Bringing him back to her apartment in this state was likely not wise. He would wake up sober, and the gods themselves might not know how he’d react when he came to.Thinking back on her conversation with Aerith, Tifa had not expected for their reunion to be quite this messy.She had been planning clever ways she might find him using an internet search, or by threatening some of her contacts in AVIATOR like Reno or Rude who might have an inkling about his whereabouts.She had been planning to be _prepared_ for this.

Seeing her apartment complex climb into view, Tifa let out a heavy sigh before leaning forward to hand some gil to the cabbie.Then she gave Cloud’s shoulder a gentle shake, and he groaned in response, head lolling to one side, eyes fluttering but not opening.

“You gonna need some help with him?” The cabbie asked, eyeing her through the rearview mirror.

“I got it,” she responded with another sigh, then slid out of the cab and doubled around to the side Cloud was on.Summoning her strength again, Tifa opened the door and pulled him out by hooking her arms under his armpits, lifting him to his feet.

With the motions, Cloud regained a little bit more of his awareness, opening his eyes somewhat and attempting to carry a little bit of his own weight.Tifa slid under one arm, being only an inch shorter than him, it wasn’t as difficult as she’d assumed to help guide him along.

After meandering their way through the complex and the elevators, Tifa finally brought Cloud to her flat on the seventh floor.He groaned again, pressing a palm to his forehead, and Tifa looked around, trying to decide what to do with him.She glanced at the couch, considered it, and then decided that would not be the most comfortable option, though it would probably be the least complicated.

Fretting inwardly, she made the decision to bring him into her bedroom.During their affair, they’d lived entirely on base near Rocket Town, so Cloud had never seen Tifa’s home in Midgar.She bit the corner of her lip ruefully as she realized that these were the circumstances under which he would be first visiting it.

She shuffled with Cloud into her bedroom, then moved him toward the bed.Tired now of his weight, she gave him a slight shove, and he tumbled forward, rolling to a stop on his back on the bed.His jacket was unzipped, and in his stretched out, supine position, Tifa could see the hem of his turtleneck riding up, exposing a smooth plane of white skin, stretched over a taut muscle.A thin tuft of pale yellow hair trailed upward along it, originating from somewhere beyond his belt.Tifa felt her face grow hot, and she turned away.

“Ugh, Tifa,” Cloud was moaning.

Tifa shook her head and shrugged off her coat, tossing it momentarily on the chair in front of her vanity table across the room.She crossed over to Cloud, whose eyes were closed but had a giddy look on his face, and carefully helped him slide out of his bomber jacket, and then his boots, his interest suddenly piqued as she began touching him, his eyes slotting open.Tifa tried to ignore the muscles under her palms as she moved his jacket out of the way, tried to overlook the smitten way he stared up at her as she assisted him.She gave him a gentle jerk on his biceps, frowning at the hard, toned sensation of his arms.She indicated the pillow a ways up on the bed.

“You should scoot up, and lay back,” she told him.“And try to get some sleep.”

Cloud offered her a stupid grin.“Anything for you, baby,” he tempted lazily, and did as she asked.

Tifa felt a searing heat rush over her and race straight between her legs.Turning red, she stood up and left the room with haste, grabbing both her and Cloud’s coats on her way out.

By the time she’d made it to the foyer to hang them, the heat had turned from scandalous to furious. She was angry at Cloud’s drunken state, angry at his nonchalance, angry at how his emotions, however drowned in booze they may be, had tormented her on the sidewalk.The thoughts of all of it were pulsating in her throat, sending ribbons of unease and anxiety through every nerve.She went straight into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, downing its entirety before pouring herself another and taking it into the bedroom with her, willing her own emotions to check themselves so she could deal with the situation she was facing rationally.

Once in the bedroom, she closed the door behind her and chanced a glance at Cloud.He was out again, his chest rising and falling slowly as he snored softly.She watched him for a moment before deeming it safe, then set her glass down on the bedside table before beginning to slip out of her clothes in front of the dresser.

“Hey.”

She froze, her back exposed to him, wearing nothing but her panties.An old teeshirt from a concert she’d gone to years ago in Junon was in her right hand, and panicking, Tifa quickly pulled it over her head, trying desperately to keep her breasts from slipping into his line of sight, as if he’d never seen them before.Once she felt somewhat covered, she turned slowly to him.

“Cloud.”

“You know I’m a light sleeper,” he told her, wearing his characteristic smirk, the one that had blown her off her feet in an elevator on a naval base so many months ago.He had sat up on his elbows, and Tifa could see the definition of his shoulders even through his sweater.

“Cloud, you should really go to sleep,” she told him evenly, glancing at the free space on the bed, not wanting to move towards it until he was knocked out again, when it would be safe.

In response, he sat up and pulled his turtleneck up over his head, tossing the fabric somewhere on the floor and revealing his smooth, toned chest and abdomen to her.Tifa had to immediately pull her eyes away from the lines of his pectorals, staring at the glass of water on the bedside table as if it were suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Tifa,” he called then, and Tifa almost screamed, feeling something torrid enflame the insides of her thighs. 

She glanced at him then and started to open her mouth, not sure of what was going to come out of it.But then he was leaning back against the pillow, the blue depths of his oceanic eyes soft and reaching for her.

“Just hold me tonight, Tifa,” he solicited quietly.“I just want to feel you.”

Tifa felt like it was sweltering in this bedroom even though it was the middle of December. Her brain was darting through every scenario it could uncover as she tried to formulate a response and consider her next action.But then Cloud’s eyes were falling closed again as he waited, his face slackening into that boyish serenity she so admired.

Suddenly compelled, Tifa slid on to the bed, one knee after the other, until she came up beside Cloud.She lowered herself to lie beside him, and as soon as her warmth greeted his, he rolled closer to her, his face finding her breasts.Blushing, Tifa leaned forward to loop one arm around the backs of his shoulders, the other cradling his arms.Instantly, he brought his arm up to circle her waist, pulling her closer to him, snuggling her body against his in a firm line of limbs and flesh.She tightened her hold on him, suddenly feeling enamored.Cloud sank into her softness.

He was almost instantly asleep, his snoring returning.Glancing down at his messy spikes of flaxen yellow hair, it wasn’t long before Tifa, her mind falling into a pit of emotions, was slumbering alongside him.

* * *

Sunlight bled through Cloud’s eyelids, funneling him through a hazy kaleidoscope of orange and red.He winced, feeling a searing pain tear through the side of his head, and he sat up, pressing his palm to his temple as he opened his eyes.

He was sitting in a plush, feminine bedroom, walls painted a faint violet color, a wooden vanity across from where he sat on a soft bed.He looked down, noting a thick, cream-colored comforter that was swathed with streaks of purple and blue, as if attacked by a paintbrush.He blinked, trying to string together the discordant events of the night before, trying to imagine where he was and how he had come to be here.He was also shirtless, and this alarmed him.

There was no way that he had gone off with another woman.

He cursed mentally a thousand times, pushing his feet off of the bed as he tried to piece himself and his situation together.He could smell coffee brewing somewhere in the house, and he winced again, noting that whoever he was with was still here in the house, meaning there’d be no chance for him to make a quick and painless exit. 

He looked around for his PHS, realizing that it must be in his jacket pocket.Not seeing the bomber anywhere in the room, a fresh panic set in, and Cloud realized how difficult this moment would be.

He sighed and found his shirt on the floor, and pulled it on haphazardly, looking around until he located his boots on the floor at the foot of the bed.After tying them on, he glanced in the mirror and pulled his fingers through his hair, trying to right his spikes enough that he looked somewhat presentable.The dull ache continued to pound a beat against the sides of his skull, creating a monotonous cacophony of pain that made the backs of his eyes strain.He took a deep breath and stepped into the hallway.

After making his way down the hall, he encountered a nicely decorated living room, once again oozing a female touch.He shook his head again with regret, disbelieving in how far his stupidity and ineptitude had taken him. With that thought, his conversation with Cid at the bar returned to him, bringing him a clean set of dread and anxiety to contend with.He chanced a glance at the front door, daring himself to make a break for it.

“Oh, you’re up.I made something for you.”

He turned then, and felt like a firing squad was rounding on him.She stood there in the entranceway of the kitchen, wearing nothing but a faded band teeshirt, her breasts full and straining against the cotton.His gaze lowered; it seemed she was wearing nothing on her lower half, and all he could see was pale, creamy flesh carved into graceful, smooth curves and lines.He raised his gaze again, noting that her hair was loose and free, cascading over her shoulders, a little mussed as if she hadn’t combed it yet. His eyes caught hers, bright crimson orbs that were glassy from sleep, shining at him, tearing streamers of his soul right out of him in violent ribbons. Her lips were turned up in a shy, pouty smile, and she was holding a thermos between her hands.

“Tifa?” He was dumbfounded, awestruck, stupefied. 

Tifa’s smile wavered slightly, then spread, as if she was realizing something. “I guess you don’t remember last night, then?”

Cloud felt like an anvil had dropped on him, like in one of the silly cartoons he used to watch as a kid.

_What the fuck did I do_ , his brain turned over and flopped like a fish out of water.

Tifa took a step forward, her smile still cautious and speculative, but generous.The closer she came to him, the louder Cloud’s blood rushed in his ears.

“Here,” she said, handing him the thermos.“This should help you feel a lot better.”

Cloud stared at her as if she were a ghost for an unnerving amount of time, before he saw a flicker of annoyance pass through her ruby irises, and he caught himself.He offered her a nod and accepted the thermos, bringing it carefully to his lips.

The drink was warm, thick, and tasted sweet, but had a tangy aftertaste that bit back.As it warmed its way through his body, Cloud felt the slivers of something soothing slip into his blood, quelling the ache in his forehead, dispelling some of the painful weariness his alcohol abuse had put into his bones and muscles.Realizing its effects, he quickly drank down more, his Adam’s apple bobbing as Tifa watched him.Satiated, he pulled the thermos away from his lips, and handed it back to her.

“What is that?” he asked her.

Tifa offered him a smile again, turning to rear back into the kitchen to set the mug in the sink.Like a magnet, Cloud followed her.

“When I was in college, I moonlit as a bartender in the Sector7 slums,” she told him, rinsing the empty mug out.“I’ve seen enough hangovers to have developed a pretty nifty cure.That was just a concoction of some fresh juices, mixed with a Tranquilizer, a few drops of a Hero’s Drink, and a Potion. It might make you feel a little woozy at first, but it should boost your strength back up, and kill any pain or nausea.”

“I feel great,” Cloud boasted, his eyes scanning her from head to toe again.

Tifa nodded slowly, keeping her eyes on his.“Good. Alcohol is rough on the body, Cloud. I also learned that from my years bartending.”

Fresh shame washed over Cloud at that, leaving his cheeks pink.He absently rubbed at the back of his neck, glancing down at the floor.

“Yeah…. About last night…”

“We should sit down and talk,” Tifa interjected firmly.

Cloud watched her as she left the kitchen, passing him to go into the living room, her legs long and fluid and white, like milk flowing from a carton.He swallowed as she folded them under herself on the couch, etching memories of the last time they’d had a serious talk like this on a couch in an apartment of hers.

She was looking at him expectantly, and she was holding a mug of coffee between her palms.Cloud started to move towards the couch, thinking how dangerous that was.One wrong move or word on his part and she could leave him scalding.

She was patting the empty space on the couch beside her, a mannerism that was so uniquely Tifa.It reminded him of every single thing he had ever loved about her, and he was suddenly resolute in knowing that he would do anything to earn her forgiveness and her trust and to be in her good graces again, to be under the shield of her love.

He slid to sit on the couch beside her, angling his body to face hers, dropping his arms to his sides to open his stance.His eyes admired the beauty of her face for a moment, drinking in how perfectly molded her features were, how her face was shaped like a heart, how her eyes were wide and doe-eyed, how her lips were full and pouty and _oh how badly he wanted to kiss them_.

He snapped out of it, letting his eyes connect with hers, an endless pool of grenache.She was looking at him expectantly, those strong, graceful fingers wrapped around her mug.He imagined them around his cock, and had to internally fight himself to focus.

“Tifa, I - last night, I -“ he sounded like an idiot.

Showing him mercy, Tifa cut him off.“Cloud, nothing happened last night,” she informed him, and he felt a slight weight slide off of his shoulder.He could not forgive himself if he had drunkenly ravished and taken advantage of Tifa and was left with no memory of his behavior.

“Cloud, I got a call last night from Cid.He asked me to meet him at this bar, Destiny’s Rapture.But when I got there, he was nowhere to be found, but you were there, standing outside.I guess he set us up.”

Cloud groaned, Cid’s pep talk replaying in his head, bringing back to mind AVIATOR, the mako sickness, the whole mess of it.He filed it away for later, letting his eyes connect with Tifa’s again, silently urging her to continue.

“I wanted to talk to you - I’ve been trying to find a way to reach you for months.If at least for some closure.”Cloud winced at that word, and suddenly felt his heart begin to race, panic setting in at the realization that something very special was about to be ruined.“But you were way too drunk.So I brought you back here, in a taxi, and we went to sleep.That’s all.”

Cloud knew the adoration was seeping out of him and falling on her, he couldn’t keep it in.She seemed to notice, because she blushed and looked away to sip her coffee.

Tifa Lockhart had saved him from self-destruction, brought him home, cared for him, and tucked him to bed for the night.His heart was roasting like chestnuts at Yule inside his chest.

“Thank you, Tifa.You’re too good for me,” he told her, the sincerity and the belief like a rock in his voice.

He saw Tifa visibly recoil at that, as if he’d struck her.Overcome, she leaned forward and placed her mug on the coffee table with a little too much force.Cloud could sense something lingering beneath the surface between them, about to burst.

“And that brings us to where we are,” Tifa lamented, shaking her head slightly.“Cloud, what happened?I know you blame yourself for… for Zack’s death, but you know it wasn’t your fault.The committee exonerated you.Going AWOL… and then leaving me without ever calling, or answering the phone for months?Do you loathe yourself that much?”

Cloud couldn’t face her any longer after that.Her words cut through him like a blade, sawing down to his most vulnerable core, the part of him that was liquefied weakness and disquiet and insecurity.He felt the old feelings of inadequacy, the desperation to always prove himself, bubble up in the pit of his gut, singeing his insides like acid.

“Cloud,” Tifa dug the knife deeper, and he had to gasp for air before he looked at her.

“Even if it wasn’t directly my fault, Tifa, I still left Zack alone.I’d been warned more than once about that.I - I let him down, no matter what.I couldn’t face anyone after what happened.And I couldn’t face you.I - I’m not worthy of someone like you, Tifa.I tried to be, but I failed.”

Tifa slammed her open palm on the space on the couch between them, startling him, causing him to look up and see that her ruby irises were lit aflame with exasperation.

“Cloud, you cannot think like that,” her voice had risen, was strained and wild.Cloud had seen Tifa displeased before, had seen her bristle when someone annoyed or disturbed her.But he had never seen her _angry_.It thrilled him in a way that made no sense.

“You are more than worthy of me, Cloud.You are the best AVIATOR in that entire fleet.Probably in the world. Better than Cid,” she added, and Cloud found the corners of his mouth tug.“But you broke my heart.I love you, I love more than anything in the world, I’ve never loved like this before, so hard that it hurts, that it tears me wide open sometimes. _And you broke my heart_.”

By the time she’d finished, Cloud realized in horror that she was beginning to cry, thick tears escaping the corners of her eyes, her voice trailing off into the strained pressure in her throat.A fresh wave of panic washed over him, and his mind filtered through her words, her confession, her unwavering belief in him.

How stupid he was to squander it all.

Desperate now, Cloud instantly took Tifa’s wrists.“Please don’t cry, Tifa.I hate to see you cry.” He slid to the floor in front of her, banging into the coffee table in the process and disturbing her drink as he positioned himself between her legs, pulling her to face him.He held her wrists tight, and when their eyes met, he squeezed them.

“I am so sorry, Tifa, “ he consoled.“I am so sorry that I left, that I didn’t talk to you, that I broke your heart.I never meant to do that, never.I was so ashamed, and so stupid, I couldn’t look at you. But I am begging you to forgive me.I love you too, Tifa.I love you so much that I can’t breathe sometimes, I love you so much that your love is all I ever think about, I need it so badly.Please, Tifa.Don’t leave me.Please, stay with me forever.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she sobbed.

Cloud released her wrists and pushed his hands up her thighs, stopping to clench at her waist, holding on to her tightly, and dropped his head into her lap.Tifa’s fingers quickly tangled into his hair, grazing his scalp.

“I love you, he said again.

“I love you, too,” Tifa rejoined, her fingers curling into his wispy hair.“But Cloud, there is one condition.” 

He lifted his head to look up at her again.“Anything,” he professed.

“I need you to make me a promise,” she began, her sobs had ebbed away, leaving her voice quiet and soft, “If you are ever feeling down like that again, or hurt, or… or anything that makes you feel doubt, I need you to promise me that you will talk to me.That you will come to me and let me share your pain, let me be by your side to help you through it.That you won’t run.”

“I promise,” Cloud pledged without pause.

Satisfied, Tifa let out a breath.Feeling like all the weights had been lifted, Cloud began to kiss her knees, trailing up the tops of her thighs.

“One more thing, Cloud,” Tifa interrupted him, and Cloud almost groaned, wanting to taste her.

“Okay,” was all he could muster in response.

Tifa was looking at him severely again.“I want you to see a medic about the Mako headaches,” she told him, her voice level.“I know you’ve been having them.It can get worse if you don’t get it treated, Cloud.I’ve seen what it does to some SOLDIERs and now, to AVIATORs.”

Cloud nodded his head against her flesh.“I promise,” he vowed again, and felt Tifa’s body relax as she leaned back against the couch.Cloud took it as his opening, and began to press kisses across her thighs again, palming her legs gently further apart.He leaned forward to graze his mouth across the soft expanse of her inner thighs, earning a slight gasp from her. Praising her for the sound, Cloud lifted his hands back up to her waist and carefully slid her panties down her hips and off of her legs.He pulled her hips lower on the seat of the couch, then folded her legs above in the air, exposing her slick pussy to him, its lips spread wide apart, eager for him.

He smiled as she heard Tifa whimper in anticipation, her heady scent of arousal making him dizzy, his dick stiff against his pants, which were suddenly too tight.He brought a finger up to her cunt, running its calloused tips across the split of pink flesh, teasing at her opening gently, stretching it a little to watch a thick swirl of wetness leak out of her.Tifa squirmed beneath his touch, and he grazed his finger over her clit, watching the nub thicken and protrude at his slight manipulation, listening to the cry that erupted from her throat.

Unable to wait any longer, Cloud pressed his mouth to her, placing soft, tender kisses across her entire pussy, causing her to whine above him.Squeezing her thighs under his hands, locking her in place, Cloud began to run the flat of his tongue across her folds, dipping his tongue inside of her, causing her to writhe and begin to beg.He felt himself grow harder, and insatiable, and he lifted his jaw so that he could wrap his mouth around her clit, earning a pleased moan of joy from her throat.Spurred on by her sounds,Cloud began to suck eagerly at the aching nub, sliding his tongue across it, pulling it between his lips, keeping the pace swift and firm as he listened to her cries escalate, felt her pull painfully at his scalp, felt her body tense and coil.He dipped a finger inside of her, reaching for a spongy spot inside, pushing it until she was screaming his name.Enthused, enamored, empowered, and completely in love, Cloud pushed with his finger and pulled with his mouth until he felt her break, her body twisting as she rode the high of her orgasm to somewhere far away.As her screams died down, she was shoving him away, trying to snap her legs shut.Cloud laughed at the way she fell apart for him, wiping her joy from the sides of his lips.

“Turn around,” he commanded her, even as she panted for breath.

Tifa did so, getting on her knees on the couch, facing away from him, draping her arms across its back.Cloud made quick work of dispatching his clothing, kicking his boots off, tearing his sweater over his head, dropping his pants and underwear and moving them out of his way.He leaned forward and pulled Tifa’s tee-shirt over her arms, threading her long hair through the neckhole before he tossed it aside.He came up behind her, his length long and hard against the back of her thigh, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder, his hands reaching around to caress her breasts, his fingers finding her nipples pert and hard.He grazed his touch fondly over them, kneading them gently, before splaying his fingers across the fullness of each breast and massaging them skillfully.Tifa let out a breathy moan.

His brain sending flares of lightning rods into his groin, Cloud reared back and took himself into his hand, glancing down at her slick folds that were hiding the entrance to all of his joy.Pressing his palm against the roundness of her ass, Cloud carefully lined himself up with her opening and slid in, instantly feeling the familiar warmth and tightness, a feeling he had craved for months.Tifa emitted a husky moan into the atmosphere as he fell into her, and instantly Cloud was compelled to drive himself into her, pushing his length to the hilt before beginning a rough, deep rhythm that had her wailing.

Cloud could feel the head of his dick greet that spongy round swell inside of her with every thrust, and the feel of it, melded with the desperate and violent sounds Tifa was making, drove him to a place of pure madness, of pure fire and lightning, of volatility and chaos and endless rapture.Tifa was calling his name, begging him to let her come and he grunted his assent, unable to manufacture a coherent thought, let alone a response.He heard her come undone around him, felt her body fracture into a million pieces as he rounded the curve of his own euphoria, the sound of his name escaping her lips in a torrential cry a final time, breaking him free to spill deep inside of her.

Tifa collapsed instantly, unable to withstand the position she was in any longer, falling almost comically across the couch.Cloud dropped next, falling with her, landing with his body on top of hers.As she gasped for breath, hiccuping with tiny moans betwixt, Cloud adjusted himself enough to face her, and to cradle him beneath her.She closed her eyes and swallowed, and Cloud watched her throat in fascination.

“Shiva, Tifa, I missed you,” Cloud professed, earning a smile from Tifa, one that lit up her eyes as she opened them again.”That was so good.You were so good.Why are you so beautiful when you come apart like that?” He couldn’t believe what he was saying, but it just came out in a wild rush, completely uncontrolled.“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.I could watch you come on an endless loop forever.”

Tifa laughed richly, tossing her head back, sending Cloud to the moon.“Oh, Strife.Knock it off.”

“I’m serious,” he objected.

Tifa continued to giggle happily, elation from their lovemaking bubbling into the air.She threaded her fingers into Cloud’s hair again, stroking him like a cat in her lap.

Cloud melted into her, clutching her body close as he wrapped his arms tight around her.He closed his eyes against her flesh, feeling the vibrations of her heartbeat echo through her chest.

He would never let her go again.

* * *

The distant sounds of explosions woke Cloud from a peaceful slumber late that night, and he was almost sure the entire complex had rocked.

He pulled away from Tifa where they were tangled snug under the sheets in her bed.She stirred slightly, but the jarring sound did not disturb her enough to wake her. Unnerved, Cloud climbed out of bed and walked over to her bedroom window, slatting open the blinds to look outside.

Thick gulfs of smoke plumed into the air in another sector of Midgar, and Cloud’s eyes widened at the sight of bright orange and red walls of flame engulfing infrastructure far in the distance.

Midgar was under attack.

Tifa’s PHS began to sing, its melody finally stirring her from her slumber.It was a little after ten PM, but Tifa and Cloud had spent the entire morning and most of the afternoon making love, so that they were exhausted and asleep by seven. He watched as she lifted herself to a sitting position, wiping the grog of sleep out of her eyes before she answered the PHS.

“Hello?”

“Tifa!Is that spikey-headed dipshit with you?”

Cloud frowned at the insult, hearing Cid’s booming drawl through her device.Tifa turned cautiously to glance back at him, and he nodded. 

“Yes, he is Cid.”She placed the call on speaker.

“Good.Well, I’m sorry about that, Tifa, but when I found him in the bar, I had to do something.But that’s not why I’m calling.Midgar is under attack.”

“What?”Tifa was suddenly panicked, glancing at Cloud who pointed at the window.He watched her naked body as she rose and walked over to look outside, her eyes widening in horror.

“Sector2 was hit first,” Cid reported.“The Ueno are all over our airspace, it was a surprise attack.We didn’t even have any goddamn fleet on this continent, Tifa.Everyone is en route to _The Emerald Siren_ , which is docked off of the coast of Midgar as we speak.Rufus wants you on the ship, so get your ass downto the port immediately.”

Cloud could see the conflict spread across Tifa’s face as she turned over the events unfolding in her head.He looked at her mournfully, then crossed the room to embrace her, shouldering her head as she shuddered.

“Okay Cid - I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“We pull up the anchor at 0100 hours,” Cid shot back.“Let me speak to that dumbass boy toy you got over there.”

Cloud grit his teeth, and saw Tifa smile slightly, dipping her head into his chest so he wouldn’t catch her laughter.He frowned at the PHS before responding. 

“It’s me,” he said cooly.

“Now is as good a time as any to get your head out of your ass,” Cid was woofing.“If you come now, and help this mission, the suits might even forget you defected.You got the girl, now get your honor back.”

“Cid…”

“Get your scrawny ass down to this goddamn dock before I kick it all the way to Minerva’s cave!That’s an order!”

Tifa was guffawing against his chest, and Cloud rolled his eyes heavenward.

“…I’m on my way.”

Cloud felt thunder in his ears as he slid into the cockpit of the F-80 Corvette aboard _The Emerald Siren_ , which was docked just a few miles away from Midgar off of the shoreline that faced the Northern Continent.After making haste to throw their clothes on and gather some supplies, Jessie had called with arrangements for a chopper pickup on the roof of the Shinra Tower.Cloud and Tifa caught a cab down to Sector0, watching in amazement and horror as people ran through the streets in panic, fearful of Wutai’s next attack.On the cab’s radio, Cloud listened gravely to a news anchor report the casualties in Sector2, numbers that were outrageously high, confirming a national tragedy.

Once at the Shinra Tower, an MP in a dark red suit flew their chopper to the coastline.As soon as they arrived, Cid was on the massive warship’s flight deck, issuing orders to crew and the other commanding officers on board.As soon as Cloud and Tifa had descended from the helicopter, Cid was barking at them.

“Doc!I need you down in the command center ASAP.SPIKE, get your bony ass in that first Corvette.You’re taking the lead today, COACH is your wingman.”

Cloud had felt a thrill rush through him.He pulled Tifa in for a swift, passionate kiss, his tongue battling hers for a long moment before Cid cleared his throat in aggravation, and then they parted.

Cloud felt the vibrations of his jet’s engines reverberate through his bones as he pointed the nose of the Corvette down the runway, quickly gaining speed as he careened upwards toward the air.It was almost full dark, save for the twinkling lights of the jets, and the faint seafoam green glow of the city of Midgar in the distance behind him.Dogfighting at night was dangerous, almost unheard of.Kisaragi had been brilliant in his strategy.

The jets roared as they lifted into the night sky, piercing through clouds, the stars twinkling somewhere in the heavens far above them.Glancing at the HUD, Cloud could see that Biggs was not far behind him, while Reno and Rude were a few dozen miles to the west.The calm serenity of the night sky was betraying, setting Cloud at slight unease.

“Alright boys,” Bigg’s voice came through on the radio.“Who’s ready to defend Midgar?”

“Damn right, we are,” Reno’s reply cracked in.

“Here’s the strategy,” Cloud interjected, taking the lead.“We know the KiS are hiding somewhere near Midgar, probably under radar.But they will try again.We’ve got to keep the city safe until they make their move, then we drive them away from Midgar airspace and take them out over the water.” 

“Sounds like a fuckin’ plan if I ever heard one,” Reno agreed.

They flew on in pairs for some time, circling around Midgar, looking out for KiS aircraft in the black sky.Cloud could still see the fires raging in Sector2 from the first bombing attack.Glancing at his HUD, he noticed a red blip suddenly appear.

“We’ve got company,” Rude said over the radio.

“Roger that,” Cloud rejoined firmly.“Look there’s gonna be more of them, I’m sure of it.RED and HAMMER, flank west, keep your eyes peeled for more, and execute as we strategized when you find them.COACH, we’re going after this one.”

“Aye aye,” Biggs responded, and Reno shouted in the radio.

“Take that asshole out!”

Cloud slammed the throttle, veering the aircraft hard to the right, its wings tipping against the wind, the downwash shuddering the canopy.He grit his teeth as he steadied the aircraft the right way, and reached into his pocket for the blue dolphin, hanging it over one of the materia switches.

“I hope you’re watching, Tifa,” he said to it, before turning the machine again, hearing Biggs’ engines roar behind his.

Cloud whipped his jet alongside the offending KiS, and as he drew near, another red blip appeared on screen.His heart suddenly tearing through his throat, Cloud pulled back the throttle and called to Biggs.

“COACH, new bogey just popped up at 11’o’clock,” he vociferated.“You take its left flank and blow him out.I’m on this guy right here as we speak.”

“Affirmative,” was Biggs’ reply.

The next few moments transpired on autopilot for Cloud.He approached the first KiS, sneaking up on its tail in surprise, driving it further towards the sea, and, flipping the materia gauges, unleashed a blast of Comet spells, an upgrade from his aircraft’s previous attacks.The KiS broke apart into flames, chunks of metal dropping from the sky and plunging into the dark ocean below.A few miles to his right, Cloud heard a blast, and watched the sky open up as bright white ribbons of lightning tore out of Bigg’s hatch, dispatching the second one with a thundaga spell.Cloud smirked, just as Reno’s voice cracked over his headset.

“Fuck!We’re surrounded.These assholes came out of nowhere.I’m locked on one, but I can’t do nothing with these fuckers on my tail.”

“I’ve got one pinned on me, RED,” Rude’s voice was calm and steady despite the gravity of the situation.

Cloud glanced at the radar screen.Four new blips were on the map, hovering around Reno and Rude’s blue dots menacingly.Cloud grit his teeth and pulled on the throttle again.

“Let’s go, COACH.I take east, you take west.We tear into the ones at 12 and 3 and blast them out of the sky, and RED and HAMMER can take out the other ones.”

“Roger!” Biggs affirmed, and Cloud heard his engines whine as he peeled off behind him, just as Reno began to curse up a blue streak.

The radio crackled again.This time, it was Cid, from the ground.“Be careful, you knuckleheads.This is a deadly game they’re trying to play.They’re trying to trap you.If you don’t get them first, they’ll take you all out.”Cid’s voice had a rough, grating edge to it.He was worried.“Hold on, Dr. Lockhart has something to say.”

Cloud’ heart flew into his throat, just as her honeyed voice came through crisp and clear in his headset.

“Cloud,” she sang, and the sound of his name on her lips made his body stiffen with desire that was dangerous at this altitude. “The Captain is right - this flight pattern is very dangerous.If you execute a rolling reversal with a pitchback, Biggs can confuse them with a midstream wingover.This will buy enough time for you to dispatch them quickly, and Reno and Rude can fire on the other two.”

Cloud was grinning like mad at her brilliance.“You get that, boys?”

Biggs canted an affirmative, but Reno was incredulous.“Did she just call him _Cloud_?” 

“I love you Cloud,” were her next words over the radio, and Reno screamed a curse, Biggs whooping with laughter, his voice pitched high as he screamed at Cloud’s expense, earning even a chuckle from Rude.But Cloud didn’t care.

“I love you too, Tifa,” he responded, before pulling the aircraft towards the east.

The next three minutes passed in a whirlwind.Cloud and Biggs both executed their moves, hearts in their throats, their bones alive from the pulsing vibrations of their jets’ engines.As Cloud pulled away from the KiS he had outsmarted, his turrets opened again, unleashing a fury of blizzaga spells, coating the enemy aircraft with ice, shattering it as it pieces fell into the ocean.Seconds later, Biggs was opening fire with thundaga again, brightening the sky with purple flashes of lightning that shot his KiS out of the sky.As Cloud and Biggs reared their way around to flank Reno and Rude to give them openings, the pair quickly took out the remaining KiS with Aero and Gravity spells, respectively.

Cid’s cheer was the first sound that they heard through the radio when the last KiS had been felled.“That’s what I’m talking about.Now that’s teamwork!Get your asses back on this ship!”

Cloud was grinning again as he and his comrades turned and flew back to _The Emerald Siren_ , the jets bouncing against the asphalt of the flight deck as they returned.As Wedge guided them into an idle position after landing, Cloud could hardly contain himself, could not stop himself from prematurely unbuckling his seatbelt, pulling himself out of the cockpit as he dragged the goggles from his head.Behind him, he could hear Biggs’ and Reno’s joyous whoops of victory, heard Reno banging his fist against the aluminum siding of his jet like a madman.Cloud hopped out of the Corvette and made his way down the flight deck at a swift pace.

Standing there in the moonlight, under the stars, her hair whipped around her like ribbons of tar, Tifa was waiting for him by the bridge, her eyes bright and eager.He raced towards her, and when he reached her, his arms wrapped around her, and he lifted her high off of the ground, spinning her in the air.The elation at the successful mission, the thrill of it, was running wild through him in a way he had never felt before.Tifa yelped at his excitement.

“Sorry.”He put her down sheepishly, then looked at her face.

“That was amazing,” she declared, her voice bright and crisp, her cheeks rosy from the cold.“You were so good.” She tossed his usual praise for her right back at him.

Fully enamored, Cloud did the only thing he could think of - he grabbed her face with both hands, and kissed her, hard, without any preamble, only with pure passion and desire, the exhilaration of the flight mission pouring into his love for her.

“Get a goddamn room,” Cid was saying somewhere off to his right, but there was mirth in his voice.

Cloud pulled away from Tifa, then took her wrist, dragging her off to the bridge, slamming the door once they were alone inside, and, hands and mouths all over each other, he took her right there, up against the wall in the darkness, the moonlight cascading over them, the stars twinkling overhead, and the sounds of the ocean slapping the starboards below as they cried out for each other in passion and in pleasure.

* * *

Tifa folded her hands in her lap as she settled into a plush, gilded chair in the front row of the massive ceremony hall on the 58 th floor of the Shinra Tower.She glanced around, seeing people filing in, AVIATORS and SOLDIERS, commanding officers, Turks, company executives, local politicians, anyone of any repute.In front of her, a wooden platform adorned with the company’s flags held a podium that was outfitted with the Shinra crest.Shinra employees skirted around the perimeter, checking the sound system and the decor, making sure everything was just perfect.

As guests began to file into place around her, she felt a hand on her arm at her side.Aerith sat beside her, Essai in her lap.Next to her was Elmyra, who was busy trying to keep Sebastian from running off to explore the massive room that was quickly becoming crowded with people.

“This is so exciting, isn’t it?” Aerith asked gleefully.“Oh, I’m so happy for Cloud, Tifa.And for you.You know it was all you that made this possible, right?”

Tifa watched as Cid crossed the room, wearing his most decorated and formal version of his service dress, his breast pinned with medals, his shoulder adorned with chevrons and stripes.“Maybe,” she agreed, the corner of her lip tilting into a smile.“I think that the Captain may have had something to do with it, too.”

Moments later, with Jessie falling into the seat on her other side, the Shinra executives began to file onto the stage to stand behind the podium - Heiddegar, Scarlet, Palmer, and Reeve, followed soon by Cid. As they ascended, a hushed tone fell over the crowd, and from behind a curtain on the right, Rufus Shinra emerged, making his way gracefully up to the podium.

Tifa noted the bored expression on his face the moment he turned to face the crowd.Certainly, this was just another formality to him, another tightly packed event booked on his overtaxed calendar. 

“Good afternoon, and greetings, esteemed guests,” his silky voice sent a chill through Tifa, sending her back to the frightening moment she had spent in his office months ago.“As you know, just over two weeks ago, our AVIATOR fleet dispatched six Kisaragi enemy aircraft outside of this very city of Midgar, after the worst domestic act of war we have ever faced.”Rufus’ eyes scanned the crowd, pale and steely.“Though that loss of life was great, our men have served with honor and achieved vengeance.” 

The crowd began to lightly clap in agreement, and Jessie’s leg was bouncing up and down next to Tifa’s in excitement.

“Today, we honor those brave men.” The president opened his arm in a sweeping gesture, and from behind the curtain, Cloud, Biggs, Reno, and Rude emerged, all dressed in their crisp service dress white.Cloud’s face was neutral, but Tifa could see the strain of his cheeks, trying to hold in a smile.Reno was grinning like a court jester.

Rufus nodded to Cid, who stepped forward with a cluster of medals in his fist.As the men lined up,he approached them one by one, hanging the AVIATOR Medal of Honor around each of their necks, the bulbs of cameras flashing all around the room.

When he stopped in front of Cloud, he had no medal in his hand.

“For you,” Cid began, his drawl cracking, his eyes trembling in their sockets as he spoke, “For your leadership, for your sacrifice, and for your commitment to this fleet.We award you AVIATOR’s highest esteem.The Mighty Wings.”

Cid unfurled his fist, revealing a pair of gleaming silver and blue wings, dipped into a V to mimic the shape of an aircraft in the sky.From her seat, Tifa could see Cloud’s eyes widen at the sight, and he lifted his head to look back at Cid.

“Thank you, Captain,” he breathed, and Cid pinned the medal to Cloud’s breast, the metallic shine flashing under the overhead lights as the crowd erupted into cheering applause.

The ceremony over, Tifa stood with tears in her eyes and watched as the executives filed out, Rufus moving with unnecessary speed.Cloud and his fleet descended the platform, and she waited as he approached her, falling instep in front of her before taking her hands in his gloved palms.

“Thank you, Tifa,” he said to her, the boy again from Nibelheim.

Tifa felt her heart flip, and she started to respond, but Aerith was right beside them, Essai on her hip.“Cloud!We are all so proud of you.I know that Zack is proud of you, too.I can feel him, cheering for you in the Lifestream.”

Tifa watched as Cloud’s face crumpled, and she knew that there were tears threatening the corners of his eyes.But after a moment, a serene, uncharacteristic smile spread across his face, and he dropped Tifa’s hands to turn to Aerith.

“Aerith…” he bade gently, reaching out to take her wrist.“I have something I want to give you.”

Cloud reached into his pocket, balling something into his fist.He turned Aerith’s palm over, and dropped the item into it, watching her green eyes as his hands fell away.

Gleaming under the light in her tiny palm were Zack’s dog tags.

“He would have wanted you to have those,” Cloud told her softly.

Tifa watched as Aerith’s eyes clouded over with tears, tears that were full of joy.She stared at the pieces of aluminum for a moment, before she burst forward and enveloped Cloud with a hug.

“Oh, Cloud!Thank you so much!You have no idea how much this means to me.”She clasped the chain to her heart.“I will cherish this forever.”

“I know you will,” Cloud responded, and Tifa felt the weight lift from him beside her.

Aerith gave them both hugs before heading off with Elmyra and the boys.After biding farewell to Jessie and some of the AVIATORs, Cloud and Tifa walked out of the Shinra Tower together, hand in hand.

Once outside, Tifa stopped and glanced up at Cloud, squeezing his palm, their fingers interlaced.“I’m so proud of you, Cloud,” she told him.

Hearing those words from her, Cloud softened again.He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers.

“I wouldn’t be the man I am without you,” he professed against her skin.

Tifa’s heart soared, flipping over in her chest like a dolphin above water. She pressed into Cloud, and in the next moment, his mouth was on hers, kissing her tenderly, underscored by a carefully ebbing passion.

“I love you,” he told her.

“And I love you,” she quickly affirmed against his mouth.

Cloud was smirking as he pulled back again.“It’s still early, but I kind of just want to go home.Maybe lay around for a bit.What do you think?”

Tifa’s eyes sparkled as she squeezed Cloud’s hand again, offering him an openly amorous look.

“Oh, I like that idea very much.”

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story. Thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments, they are always appreciated. And thank you to everyone who took the time to read this!! It is my first AU, so I was nervous about it. I hope it resonates with folks out there.


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